What is Contextual Advertising?
Contextual advertising is targeted advertising that places ads on directly relevant websites or web pages determined by contextual relevance. It’s also called In-Text advertising or In-Context technology. This form of advertising is beneficial as it is presumed that an audience generally interested in a subject is more likely to positively respond to a contextually relevant ad.
Contextual advertising placement typically improves the performance of display ads and increases click-through rates and conversions. Consumers respond positively to ads directly relevant to the subjects they are currently reading about, and publishers can earn more revenue.
The technology of contextual advertising scans content and websites for keywords and serves ads relevant to those keywords. For example, if the user was browsing through a cooking website, they would be more likely to see a fridge ad, rather than a sports ad.
Today, contextual advertising is also used by search engines to display ads based on keywords the user uses in their search query.
Contextual advertising was the first advertising model that incorporated user experience and context into the placement of ads. Other forms of contextual advertising include native advertising, where ads are designed to look like native content, and behavioral advertising, which targets users based on their individual preferences.
