The regulation of outdoor advertising has been subject to continued controversy. Although many arguments have been made both for and against restrictive regulation of billboards, the focus of these arguments seldom has been on the content of the billboards themselves. The authors use a content analysis of a sample of over 700 Michigan billboards to provide empirical evidence on issues that are central to assessing the regulation of outdoor advertising. Data collected on the information content of billboards, prevalence of billboards for alcohol and tobacco products, and prevalence of billboards for small businesses suggest that current regulation of the outdoor industry has been effective.
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