Targeted Advertising Shows Up on Boston Taxis

Picture an electronic billboard on the move and changing its message minute by minute, depending on who’s looking at it. This new type of communication, created by Somerville, Mass.-based Vert Inc., debuted this month on a cab in downtown Boston. The company hopes soon to expand into the taxi capital of the world--New York City. Color messages can change block by block, depending on the time of day and location, using a satellite feed and wireless Internet link. Vert has created a sort of Web browser that can be mounted on a taxi roof. Vert’s software enables a Web server to read the taxi location through a satellite tracking system, and transmit ads appropriate to the time and place to the billboard screens. Vert’s billboards will cost about $5 per 1,000 impressions, said Brad Harkavy, Vert’s chief executive.

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