今天分享的外刊精读选自经济学人，了解一下数字户外广告。
看标题：
Sign of the times 时代的标志
大标题：Billboards are an old but booming ad medium
广告牌：老当益壮
old but booming：广告牌可以追溯至19世纪，可谓是年岁很长了，如今面对网络广告的兴起，仍能屹立不倒，我就翻译为“老当益壮”吧！
导语：Innovations developed by online advertisers are working for billboards
户外广告牌：乘着网络广告商的创新东风
are working for ：如果直接翻译为“正在应用于广告牌上”好像有点硬啊，反过来说，广告牌不正是在乘着网络广告商的创新东风吗？嗯，相信你读完这篇文章的精读后会理解这点的。
第一段
段落比较长，我们分句来看：
①Pedestrians strolling down 8th Avenue in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighbourhood will be struck by the cast-limestone façade of the Hearst Magazine Building.
neighbourhood：街区；城区；
cast-limestone:复合形容词; cast表示“模子，铸模；铸件，铸造品”，与之相似的复合形容词：cast-iron铸铁的；limestone是“石灰岩”；
façade：the face or front of a building (建筑物的) 正面；还有一层意思是：a way of behaving that hides your real feelings〔掩盖真实感情的〕表面
句子①的主干是Pedestrians will be struck by …,其中， strolling down 8th Avenue in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighbourhood是现在分词作后置定语，修饰Pedestrians；
②Commissioned by William Randolph Hearst in 1926, the 40,000-square- foot (3,716-square-metre) art deco building is adorned with fluted columns and statues and topped by a 600-foot (183-metre) glass and steel skyscraper.
commission：动词，委托〔别人写报告、创作艺术品等〕
art deco：装饰派艺术（流行于20世纪20至30年代，呈几何图形，线条清晰，色彩鲜明）
fluted：刻有凹槽的
skyscraper：摩天大楼
②Commissioned by是过去分词作状语，主句为the building is adorned with… and topped by…
③ Another conspicuous feature is a vast digital screen transmitting advertisements from BuzzFeed,ESPN and Vice. ④This blend of history and modernity is emblematic of the outdoor-advertising business itself, which, despite being one of the world’s oldest forms of marketing is embracing digital technologies.
emblematic：象征性的，标志性的。例如Rosemary is emblematic of constancy.迷迭香是忠贞的象征。
embrace：欣然接受，乐意采纳（思想、建议等）；信奉（宗教、信仰等）
第④句的后半句是非限制性定语从句which is embracing digital technologies，修饰the outdoor-advertising business，这个定语从句中又有一个插入语despite being one of the world’s oldest forms of marketing。
段落大意：当行人漫步在曼哈顿地狱厨房区(Hell’s Kitchen)的第八大道(eight Avenue)上，会为赫斯特杂志大厦(Hearst Magazine Building)的石灰岩外墙所震撼。这座大厦占地40000平方英尺(3716平方米)，由威廉·伦道夫·赫斯特(William Randolph Hearst)于1926年委托建造，大厦装饰着有凹槽的柱子和雕像，顶部是600英尺(183米)的玻璃和钢制摩天大楼，极富装饰派艺术风格。另一个引人注目的特点是一个巨大的数字屏幕，播放着来自BuzzFeed、ESPN 和Vice的广告。这种历史与现代的融合是户外广告业务本身的一个象征，尽管户外广告是世界上最古老的营销形式之一，但它正在接受数字技术。
第二段
Most forms of conventional advertising—print, radio and broadcast television—have been losing ground to online ads for years; only billboards, dating back to the 1800s, and tv ads are holding their own (see chart). Such out-of-home (OOH) advertising, as it is known, is expected to grow by 3.4% in 2018, and digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising, which includes the lcd screens found in airports and shopping malls, by 16%. Such ads draw viewers’ attention from phones and cannot be skipped or blocked, unlike ads online.
lose ground ：后退、处于不利的地位，失去立足之地等；那么， gain ground就可表示“取得进展”，以及本句后半句的hold ground可表示“坚守阵地、坚持立场”。
out-of-home (OOH) advertising：户外广告，是outdoor advertising的替换词。
段落大意：多年来，大多数传统的广告形式，如印刷、无线电和广播电视等，在网络广告面前都失去了立足之地;只有可追溯到19世纪的广告牌及电视广告仍能坚守阵地(见图表)。这种户外广告(OOH)预计将在2018年增长3.4%，而像机场和商场的液晶显示屏等数字户外广告(DOOH)将增长16%。与网络广告不同，这类广告将观众的注意力从手机上转移过来，而观众也不能跳过或者屏蔽这类广告。
第三段
①Billboard owners are also making hay from the location data that are pouring off people’s smartphones.② Information about their owners’ whereabouts and online browsing gets aggregated and anonymised by carriers and data vendors and sold to media owners.
make hay (while the sun shines):英文解释为to take the opportunity to do something now, because you may not be able to do it later表示“抓紧时机”;
hay：干草、饲草，与之相关的词组还有hit the hay表示to go to bed上床睡觉，非正式用语。
pour：暗含了“多”的意思
whereabouts ：下落
data vendors：数据供应商
③ They then use these data to work out when different demographic groups—“business travellers”, say—walk by their ads. ④That knowledge is added to insights into traffic, weather and other external data to produce highly relevant ads. ⑤DOOH providers can deliver ads for coffee when it is cold and fizzy drinks when it is warm. ⑥Billboards can be programmed to show ads for allergy medication when the air is full of pollen.
say：to suggest or give sth as an example or a possibility 比方说；假设
第③句中的They所指代的对象也要搞准确，根据句子后面的“their ads”，得知指的是第①句的Billboard owners，而非carriers and data vendors，因而在翻译时，也要明确说清楚具体指代对象。
一起来理解一下第④句：That knowledge is added to insights into traffic, weather and other external data...That knowledge指的就是上一句对“何时经过他们的广告牌”的统计结果；“be added to insights into traffic, weather and other external data”，insights在这里可以模糊处理，翻译为“与交通、天气状况等其他外部信息相结合”。
fizzy drinks：碳酸饮料，汽水
allergy：过敏性反应，过敏症，例如：I have an allergy to animal hair. 我对动物毛过敏。
pollen：花粉
段落大意：广告牌公司也利用从人们智能手机上获得的大量位置数据获利。运营商和数据供应商会将其手机用户的行踪和在线浏览信息汇总并匿名，再出售给媒体公司。然后，广告牌公司就利用这些数据来统计出不同人口群体（比如“商务旅客”）何时经过他们的广告牌，并将得出的结论与交通、天气状况等其他外部信息相结合，从而制作出高度相关的广告。DOOH供应商可以在天气寒冷时播放咖啡广告，炎热时播放碳酸饮料广告。当空气中充满花粉时，还可以对广告牌设定程序、播放过敏药物广告。
第四段
①Such targeting works particularly well when it is accompanied by “programmatic” advertising methods, a term that describes the use of data to automate and improve ads. ②In the past year billboard owners such as Clear Channel and JCDecaux have launched programmatic platforms which allow brands and media buyers to select, purchase and place ads in minutes, rather than days or weeks.③ Industry boosters say outdoor ads will increasingly be bought like online ones, based on audience and views as well as location.
“programmatic” advertising：程序化广告
句子①含有一个由when引导的条件状语从句，“a term that”作为“programmatic” advertising method的同位语。
句子②是含有一个定语从句的复合句，“which allow brands and media buyers to…”用来修饰限定programmatic platforms。
段落大意：如果使用了“程序化”的广告方法,这种精准定向广告就会尤为有效。程序化广告就是利用数据来实现广告的自动化和改进。去年，清晰频道（Clear Channel）和德高集团(JCDecaux)等广告牌公司推出了程序化平台，允许品牌和媒体买家按分钟来选择、购买并投放广告，而不是按天或按周。行业支持者表示，户外广告的购买方式将与网络广告越来越相似，会根据受众、浏览量以及位置来购买。
第五段
That is possible because billboard owners claim to be able to measure how well their ads are working, even though no “click-through” rates are involved. Data firms can tell advertisers how many people walk past individual advertisements at particular times of the day. Advertisers can estimate how many individuals exposed to an ad for a Louis Vuitton handbag then go on to visit a nearby shop (or website) and buy the product. Such metrics make outdoor ads more data-driven, automated and measurable, argues Michael Provenzano, co-founder of Vistar Media, an ad-tech firm in New York.
“click-through” rates：点击率；click-through：（因特网上的）可点击广告
make outdoor ads more data-driven, automated and measurable：使户外广告更加数据化、自动化和可测量化
当要翻译“……化”时，其中一个常用的翻译方法就是使用：make sth. /sb.+形容词(比较级)，例如：校园园林化to make campuses green with parks and woods;科学化管理 to make management more scientific;
段落大意：这是有可能的，因为广告牌公司声称，即便不涉及到“点击率”，他们也能够衡量他们的广告效果如何。数据公司可以告诉广告商，一天中有多少人会在特定时间路过某个广告牌。广告商可以估计有多少人在看到路易威登(Louis Vuitton)手袋广告后，会去附近的商店(或网站)购买该产品。纽约广告技术公司Vistar Media的联合创始人迈克尔•普罗文扎诺(Michael Provenzano)认为，这些衡量指标使户外广告更加数据化、自动化和可测量化。
第六段
As the outdoor-ad industry becomes more data-driven, tech giants are among those to see more value in it. Netflix recently acquired a string of billboards along Hollywood’s Sunset Strip, where it will start advertising its films and tv shows. Tech firms, among them Apple and Google, are heavy buyers of OOH ads, accounting for 25 of the top 100 OOH ad spenders in America.
among：介词，我们都熟悉它表示“在...中间”，但阅读中常可以看到有关among的灵活运用，其中一个意思相当于“one of”，比如本段中的tech giants are among those to see more value in it，相当于tech giants are one of those to see more value in it. 在写作中，我们可以用 among 表示 one of 的意思，使表达更多样、地道。再举个栗子： A British woman was among the survivors. 幸存者中有一位英国妇女。
among还表示besides，如among other things/places/factors“除了其他东西/地方/因素”。摘个词典里的栗子: ‘What was wrong with the job?’ ‘Well, the pay wasn't good, among other things .’ “这份工作有什么不好吗？”“嗯，别的不说，工资就不怎么样。”
tech giants：科技巨头
好莱坞日落大道(Sunset Strip)：日落大道早已成为好莱坞星光璀璨的代名词。
heavy buyers：大客户，大主顾，大买家
account for：(数量、比例上) 占
段落大意：随着户外广告行业越来越数据化，科技巨头也在其中看到了更多的价值。网飞公司（Netflix）最近收购了好莱坞日落大道(Sunset Strip)的一系列广告牌，准备在那里为自己的电影和电视剧做广告宣传。包括苹果和谷歌在内的科技公司都是OOH广告的大客户，美国前100位OOH广告客户中，有25家都是科技公司。
第七段
The outdoor-ad revolution is not problem-free. The collection of mobile-phone data raises privacy concerns. And criticisms of the online-ad business for being opaque, and occasionally fraudulent, may also be lobbed at the OOH business as it becomes bigger and more complex. The industry is ready to address such concerns, says Jean-Christophe Conti, chief executive of viooh, a media-buying platform. One of the benefits of following the online-ad trailblazers, he notes, is learning from their blunders.
problem-free:一切顺利的，没有问题的
opaque：不透明的；难理解的
fraudulent：骗人的，欺诈性的
lob：（往空中）高扔，高抛，高掷； 吊高球，挑高球（尤指把球击或踢到对方的身后）
trailblazer：创始人；先驱；拓荒者；开路先锋;(可以用pioneer替换)
a trailblazer in the field of medical research 医学研究领域的先驱
blunder：a stupid or careless mistake 愚蠢（或粗心）的错误to make a terrible blunder 犯大错
段落大意：户外广告变革并非一帆风顺。收集手机数据引发了人们对隐私问题的担忧。随着OOH业务越来越大、越来越复杂，对网络广告业务不透明、偶尔还存在欺诈的批评可能也会被投向OOH业务。媒体购买平台VIOOH的首席执行官让-克里斯托弗•康迪(Jean-Christophe Conti)表示，该行业已准备好应对此类担忧。他指出，追随网络广告开拓者的一个好处就是从他们的错误中吸取教训。
最后，还是来个粗糙的思维导图吧
译文仅供参考，若有不准确之处，还请温柔提点。