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Anybody who has ever been to Las Vegas can attest to the fact there are a ton of taxis on the Strip. The taxi staging lines wrap around most strip Hotels day and night. Ask any taxi driver and they will tell you there is far more taxis than business to support.

Why do they need so many taxis? Seems like a waste of resources to have so many drivers idle? so many taxis polluting the air? Most people would also agree a taxi, with all it’s flashy advertising, is an eyesore. Clear Channel TaxiMedia would beg to differ.

Could this practice of oversupplying taxis, creating long lines of what are really advertising signs be intentional? Could Advertisers be working to flood streets with taxis to benefit their advertising business? at the expense of taxi drivers by increased competition for a finite number of rides?

According to this insightful article the practice is likely a tactical strategy which increases advertising exposure, in the trade that means eyeballs.

Strategic static taxi staging has been perfected in Las Vegas. In other locales like New York, the sheer number of taxis creates a different form of ad saturation. NYC has 10 times the number of taxis than Las Vegas.

The important thing to understand with advertising is ads only work when people see them. In Las Vegas the Hotels are providing a perfect vehicle for these Advertisers at no cost. Clear Channel is basically getting free ad space on some of the most expensive Real Estate on the planet by showing ads on staging taxis.

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