今天分享的外刊精讀選自經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人，了解一下數(shù)字戶外廣告。

看標(biāo)題：

Sign of the times 時(shí)代的標(biāo)志

大標(biāo)題：Billboards are an old but booming ad medium

廣告牌：老當(dāng)益壯

old but booming：廣告牌可以追溯至19世紀(jì)，可謂是年歲很長(zhǎng)了，如今面對(duì)網(wǎng)絡(luò)廣告的興起，仍能屹立不倒，我就翻譯為“老當(dāng)益壯”吧！

導(dǎo)語(yǔ)：Innovations developed by online advertisers are working for billboards

戶外廣告牌：乘著網(wǎng)絡(luò)廣告商的創(chuàng)新東風(fēng)

are working for ：如果直接翻譯為“正在應(yīng)用于廣告牌上”好像有點(diǎn)硬啊，反過來說，廣告牌不正是在乘著網(wǎng)絡(luò)廣告商的創(chuàng)新東風(fēng)嗎？嗯，相信你讀完這篇文章的精讀后會(huì)理解這點(diǎn)的。

第一段

段落比較長(zhǎng)，我們分句來看：

①Pedestrians strolling down 8th Avenue in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighbourhood will be struck by the cast-limestone fa?ade of the Hearst Magazine Building.

neighbourhood：街區(qū)；城區(qū)；

cast-limestone:復(fù)合形容詞; cast表示“模子，鑄模；鑄件，鑄造品”，與之相似的復(fù)合形容詞：cast-iron鑄鐵的；limestone是“石灰?guī)r”；

fa?ade：the face or front of a building (建筑物的) 正面；還有一層意思是：a way of behaving that hides your real feelings〔掩蓋真實(shí)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是現(xiàn)在分詞作后置定語(yǔ)，修飾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：動(dòng)詞，委托〔別人寫報(bào)告、創(chuàng)作藝術(shù)品等〕

art deco：裝飾派藝術(shù)（流行于20世紀(jì)20至30年代，呈幾何圖形，線條清晰，色彩鮮明）

fluted：刻有凹槽的

skyscraper：摩天大樓

②Commissioned by是過去分詞作狀語(yǔ)，主句為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，標(biāo)志性的。例如Rosemary is emblematic of constancy.迷迭香是忠貞的象征。

embrace：欣然接受，樂意采納（思想、建議等）；信奉（宗教、信仰等）

第④句的后半句是非限制性定語(yǔ)從句which is embracing digital technologies，修飾the outdoor-advertising business，這個(gè)定語(yǔ)從句中又有一個(gè)插入語(yǔ)despite being one of the world’s oldest forms of marketing。

段落大意：當(dāng)行人漫步在曼哈頓地獄廚房區(qū)(Hell’s Kitchen)的第八大道(eight Avenue)上，會(huì)為赫斯特雜志大廈(Hearst Magazine Building)的石灰?guī)r外墻所震撼。這座大廈占地40000平方英尺(3716平方米)，由威廉·倫道夫·赫斯特(William Randolph Hearst)于1926年委托建造，大廈裝飾著有凹槽的柱子和雕像，頂部是600英尺(183米)的玻璃和鋼制摩天大樓，極富裝飾派藝術(shù)風(fēng)格。另一個(gè)引人注目的特點(diǎn)是一個(gè)巨大的數(shù)字屏幕，播放著來自BuzzFeed、ESPN 和Vice的廣告。這種歷史與現(xiàn)代的融合是戶外廣告業(yè)務(wù)本身的一個(gè)象征，盡管戶外廣告是世界上最古老的營(yíng)銷形式之一，但它正在接受數(shù)字技術(shù)。

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、處于不利的地位，失去立足之地等；那么， gain ground就可表示“取得進(jìn)展”，以及本句后半句的hold ground可表示“堅(jiān)守陣地、堅(jiān)持立場(chǎng)”。

out-of-home (OOH) advertising：戶外廣告，是outdoor advertising的替換詞。

段落大意：多年來，大多數(shù)傳統(tǒng)的廣告形式，如印刷、無(wú)線電和廣播電視等，在網(wǎng)絡(luò)廣告面前都失去了立足之地;只有可追溯到19世紀(jì)的廣告牌及電視廣告仍能堅(jiān)守陣地(見圖表)。這種戶外廣告(OOH)預(yù)計(jì)將在2018年增長(zhǎng)3.4%，而像機(jī)場(chǎng)和商場(chǎng)的液晶顯示屏等數(shù)字戶外廣告(DOOH)將增長(zhǎng)16%。與網(wǎng)絡(luò)廣告不同，這類廣告將觀眾的注意力從手機(jī)上轉(zhuǎn)移過來，而觀眾也不能跳過或者屏蔽這類廣告。

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):英文解釋為to take the opportunity to do something now, because you may not be able to do it later表示“抓緊時(shí)機(jī)”;

hay：干草、飼草，與之相關(guān)的詞組還有hit the hay表示to go to bed上床睡覺，非正式用語(yǔ)。

pour：暗含了“多”的意思

whereabouts ：下落

data vendors：數(shù)據(jù)供應(yīng)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 比方說；假設(shè)

第③句中的They所指代的對(duì)象也要搞準(zhǔn)確，根據(jù)句子后面的“their ads”，得知指的是第①句的Billboard owners，而非carriers and data vendors，因而在翻譯時(shí)，也要明確說清楚具體指代對(duì)象。

一起來理解一下第④句：That knowledge is added to insights into traffic, weather and other external data...That knowledge指的就是上一句對(duì)“何時(shí)經(jīng)過他們的廣告牌”的統(tǒng)計(jì)結(jié)果；“be added to insights into traffic, weather and other external data”，insights在這里可以模糊處理，翻譯為“與交通、天氣狀況等其他外部信息相結(jié)合”。

fizzy drinks：碳酸飲料，汽水

allergy：過敏性反應(yīng)，過敏癥，例如：I have an allergy to animal hair. 我對(duì)動(dòng)物毛過敏。

pollen：花粉

段落大意：廣告牌公司也利用從人們智能手機(jī)上獲得的大量位置數(shù)據(jù)獲利。運(yùn)營(yíng)商和數(shù)據(jù)供應(yīng)商會(huì)將其手機(jī)用戶的行蹤和在線瀏覽信息匯總并匿名，再出售給媒體公司。然后，廣告牌公司就利用這些數(shù)據(jù)來統(tǒng)計(jì)出不同人口群體（比如“商務(wù)旅客”）何時(shí)經(jīng)過他們的廣告牌，并將得出的結(jié)論與交通、天氣狀況等其他外部信息相結(jié)合，從而制作出高度相關(guān)的廣告。DOOH供應(yīng)商可以在天氣寒冷時(shí)播放咖啡廣告，炎熱時(shí)播放碳酸飲料廣告。當(dāng)空氣中充滿花粉時(shí)，還可以對(duì)廣告牌設(shè)定程序、播放過敏藥物廣告。

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：程序化廣告

句子①含有一個(gè)由when引導(dǎo)的條件狀語(yǔ)從句，“a term that”作為“programmatic” advertising method的同位語(yǔ)。

句子②是含有一個(gè)定語(yǔ)從句的復(fù)合句，“which allow brands and media buyers to…”用來修飾限定programmatic platforms。

段落大意：如果使用了“程序化”的廣告方法,這種精準(zhǔn)定向廣告就會(huì)尤為有效。程序化廣告就是利用數(shù)據(jù)來實(shí)現(xiàn)廣告的自動(dòng)化和改進(jìn)。去年，清晰頻道（Clear Channel）和德高集團(tuán)(JCDecaux)等廣告牌公司推出了程序化平臺(tái)，允許品牌和媒體買家按分鐘來選擇、購(gòu)買并投放廣告，而不是按天或按周。行業(yè)支持者表示，戶外廣告的購(gòu)買方式將與網(wǎng)絡(luò)廣告越來越相似，會(huì)根據(jù)受眾、瀏覽量以及位置來購(gòu)買。

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：點(diǎn)擊率；click-through：（因特網(wǎng)上的）可點(diǎn)擊廣告

make outdoor ads more data-driven, automated and measurable：使戶外廣告更加數(shù)據(jù)化、自動(dòng)化和可測(cè)量化

當(dāng)要翻譯“……化”時(shí)，其中一個(gè)常用的翻譯方法就是使用：make sth. /sb.+形容詞(比較級(jí))，例如：校園園林化to make campuses green with parks and woods;科學(xué)化管理 to make management more scientific;

段落大意：這是有可能的，因?yàn)閺V告牌公司聲稱，即便不涉及到“點(diǎn)擊率”，他們也能夠衡量他們的廣告效果如何。數(shù)據(jù)公司可以告訴廣告商，一天中有多少人會(huì)在特定時(shí)間路過某個(gè)廣告牌。廣告商可以估計(jì)有多少人在看到路易威登(Louis Vuitton)手袋廣告后，會(huì)去附近的商店(或網(wǎng)站)購(gòu)買該產(chǎn)品。紐約廣告技術(shù)公司Vistar Media的聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人邁克爾?普羅文扎諾(Michael Provenzano)認(rèn)為，這些衡量指標(biāo)使戶外廣告更加數(shù)據(jù)化、自動(dòng)化和可測(cè)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：介詞，我們都熟悉它表示“在...中間”，但閱讀中常可以看到有關(guān)among的靈活運(yùn)用，其中一個(gè)意思相當(dāng)于“one of”，比如本段中的tech giants are among those to see more value in it，相當(dāng)于tech giants are one of those to see more value in it. 在寫作中，我們可以用 among 表示 one of 的意思，使表達(dá)更多樣、地道。再舉個(gè)栗子： A British woman was among the survivors. 幸存者中有一位英國(guó)婦女。

among還表示besides，如among other things/places/factors“除了其他東西/地方/因素”。摘個(gè)詞典里的栗子: ?‘What was wrong with the job?’ ‘Well, the pay wasn't good, among other things .’ “這份工作有什么不好嗎？”“嗯，別的不說，工資就不怎么樣?！?/p>

tech giants：科技巨頭

好萊塢日落大道(Sunset Strip)：日落大道早已成為好萊塢星光璀璨的代名詞。

heavy buyers：大客戶，大主顧，大買家

account for：(數(shù)量、比例上) 占

段落大意：隨著戶外廣告行業(yè)越來越數(shù)據(jù)化，科技巨頭也在其中看到了更多的價(jià)值。網(wǎng)飛公司（Netflix）最近收購(gòu)了好萊塢日落大道(Sunset Strip)的一系列廣告牌，準(zhǔn)備在那里為自己的電影和電視劇做廣告宣傳。包括蘋果和谷歌在內(nèi)的科技公司都是OOH廣告的大客戶，美國(guó)前100位OOH廣告客戶中，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:一切順利的，沒有問題的

opaque：不透明的；難理解的

fraudulent：騙人的，欺詐性的

lob：（往空中）高扔，高拋，高擲； 吊高球，挑高球（尤指把球擊或踢到對(duì)方的身后）

trailblazer：創(chuàng)始人；先驅(qū)；拓荒者；開路先鋒;(可以用pioneer替換)

a trailblazer in the field of medical research 醫(yī)學(xué)研究領(lǐng)域的先驅(qū)

blunder：a stupid or careless mistake 愚蠢（或粗心）的錯(cuò)誤to make a terrible blunder 犯大錯(cuò)

段落大意：戶外廣告變革并非一帆風(fēng)順。收集手機(jī)數(shù)據(jù)引發(fā)了人們對(duì)隱私問題的擔(dān)憂。隨著OOH業(yè)務(wù)越來越大、越來越復(fù)雜，對(duì)網(wǎng)絡(luò)廣告業(yè)務(wù)不透明、偶爾還存在欺詐的批評(píng)可能也會(huì)被投向OOH業(yè)務(wù)。媒體購(gòu)買平臺(tái)VIOOH的首席執(zhí)行官讓-克里斯托弗?康迪(Jean-Christophe Conti)表示，該行業(yè)已準(zhǔn)備好應(yīng)對(duì)此類擔(dān)憂。他指出，追隨網(wǎng)絡(luò)廣告開拓者的一個(gè)好處就是從他們的錯(cuò)誤中吸取教訓(xùn)。

最后，還是來個(gè)粗糙的思維導(dǎo)圖吧

譯文僅供參考，若有不準(zhǔn)確之處，還請(qǐng)溫柔提點(diǎn)。