Industry Principles for Outdoor Advertising in Pennsylvania

At the Outdoor Advertising Association of Pennsylvania, we give our members resources and tips for staying true to industry principles regarding outdoor advertising.



Because many of our members employ billboards in highly trafficked areas, it is vital to have rules in place to ensure products are effective and attractive. Read about the industry principles below and contact us for more information. 

Respecting the Local Environment

  • Billboards should only be built in commercial and industrial areas exclusively for business purposes.
  • Placed in areas of genuine scenic beauty, outside of commercial and industrial areas, we support the exclusion of billboards.

Relationships with communities

We support the right to maintain lawfully erected billboards.

We support the removal of illegally erected billboards and other forms of signage without compensation.

Laws that assure just compensation for the removal of both legal conforming and nonconforming billboards are supported by OAAP.

Supporting Worthy Causes

  • Public service messages that promote both worthy statewide and community causes are central to our ethos.
  • We support the use of billboards for political, editorial, and other noncommercial messages.

Providing an Effective, Attractive Product

  • Maintaining and improving the overall quality, appearance, and attractiveness of billboard structures and locations is paramount to our success.
  • Utilizing new technologies to educate the public is high on our list of priorities.
  • With the exception of pre-established entertainment areas, all advertising messages are on standard-sized digital billboards and will not include animated, flashing, scrolling, intermittent, or full-motion video elements, but instead be static messages.
  • Ensuring all digital billboards' ambient light conditions will be monitored by a light-sensing device helps to ensure the display brightness will be appropriately adjusted as light levels change. We keep this closely monitored to ensure the best results.

Observing High Standards in PA

  • OAAP is committed to advertising a wide range of products and services.
  • We do not support advertising that is incompatible with individual community standards. Quality advertising is imagery and statements free from offensive material and in adherence to public decency.
  • We support the prohibition of advertising products illegal for sale to minors that are readable from, or are within 500 feet of, established places of worship, public playgrounds, or primary and secondary schools.