Metropolitan Manila, a major Southeast‐Asian conurbation, has become increasingly unsightly due to the poorly‐regulated proliferation of billboards and other forms of outdoor advertising that threaten to distract, if not overwhelm, motorists, commuters and pedestrians. Field research however, reveals land use patterns in the seemingly wanton sprawl, as well as little‐known stakeholders whose network drives the advertising industry. With the current lack of coordination between government agencies, the situation threatens to deteriorate, unless insights from political geography and urban planning can be used by policymakers to craft rules based on a holistic understanding of the key physical, economic and sociopolitical forces described in this study.