Dublin start-up firm Move Media is selling ad space on eye-level, nine-inch LCD screens on the back of taxi seats to display a company's logo and a quick ad every three minutes of the journey.

Move Media is selling advertising slots for the screens in Xpert Digi-taxis - the company of the former vice president of the National Taxi Drivers Union, Vinny Kearns.

After an original trial of 55 taxis, it is set to be rolled out to approximately 200 taxis in Dublin.

Advertisers can use the service in two-week or monthly slots that cost just under Euro3,000 and Euro9,000 respectively, with the driver getting a cut of approximately Euro25 a week.

"We are delighted with it, " said Vinny Kearns. "It means more drivers want to work for us. We install the screens in the taxis for them and the money from it means they can pay for a holiday for themselves or something like that. I can really see it growing, " he said.

The hospitality trade has been the biggest client of taxiscreen advertising so far. This form of advertising has been in widespread use in cities such as London, New York and Barcelona for about the last 18 months.

"We started developing this about three years ago but we only put it into operation in the last few months, " said Gene Byrne, managing director of Move Media, which employs nine people at its office at Malahide in north Dublin.

"We would see it as a very strong branding exercise.

There has been huge business interest in it so far. The average taxi journey is between ten and 20 minutes so your advertisement will be seen four or five times by a captive audience, " he said.

According to one advertising expert, it could work very well for companies as long as it matches the target audience. Otherwise it could be an annoyance.

"Advertisers are always looking for ways to reach new people. This is very new for Dublin and it could be very effective, " said the advertising course director in the Dublin Institute of Technology business school, Rosie Hand.

"However it is something that has to be context-sensitive. You do have a captive audience but that is not enough on its own. If the advertiser does not match the target audience then it would come across as intrusive. If it is done right you can get your message across, " she said.