Let Google Ads Advertisers Buy Screen Time on Digital Billboards: Product Design
Company: Flipkart
Role: Product Manager
Category: Product Design & Strategy
Difficulty: medium
Interview Round: Other
You are the product manager for a new Google Ads offering that lets advertisers run campaigns on digital billboards: screens in public places whose content can be changed remotely, unlike printed boards. Design the product. Decide which users it serves first, which of their problems it solves, what the first version includes, and how you would judge whether it is working.
```hint Start from what Google Ads does well
Traditional billboard buying is slow, negotiated and hard to measure, while Google Ads is self-serve, auction-priced and measurement-driven. Ask which advertisers have never bought a billboard because of that gap, and let their needs set the scope.
```
### Clarifying Questions
- Does Google own any screens, or does the product sell time on screens operated by outside billboard networks?
- Is the goal new revenue from existing Google Ads advertisers, winning the outdoor budgets of large brands, or something else?
- Which placements are in scope: roadside screens, transit stations, malls and stores, or all of them?
- Should the product live inside the existing Google Ads interface and billing, or be a separate tool?
### What a Strong Answer Covers
- A stated goal and a reasoned view of both sides of the market: the advertisers buying screen time and the screen owners supplying it.
- A focused advertiser segment with pain points specific to buying outdoor screen ads, such as finding inventory, minimum commitments, creative production and measurement.
- A first version that covers the full loop of choosing screens, building a creative, paying and seeing results, with later features clearly prioritized.
- How billboard impressions are estimated, priced and verified when nobody can click the ad.
- Metrics with guardrails, plus billboard-specific risks: driver distraction, content shown to the general public, fake inventory and local regulation.
### Follow-up Questions
- How would you show a local business that its billboard campaign drove store visits or sales?
- A city regulator says moving video on roadside screens distracts drivers. How does the product change?
- Screen owners complain that auction prices come in below their negotiated rates. What do you do?
Overview: A product design question about extending Google Ads so advertisers can buy time on digital billboard screens. It tests choosing a goal and advertiser segment, handling the two-sided market with screen owners, pricing and verifying impressions without clicks, and setting metrics and safety guardrails.