Programmatic advertising has sped to the forefront of media buying, becoming the indisputable choice for purchasing top ad formats after years of expanding popularity. To boost the efficiency of their programmatic campaigns across formats and contexts, the majority of ad buyers are using or planning to use supply path optimization (SPO) technology.
Despite its widespread use, there is still substantial debate among brands and agencies over who is accountable for overseeing SPO activities and media quality.
According to a data:
- Currently, 95% of ad buyers are using or planning to use supply channel optimization technology in the coming year.
- Half or more of their advertising expenditure is transacted programmatically, according to 52% of media specialists.
- The major difficulty in programmatic advertising, according to 42% of ad buyers, is a lack of transparency.
Contextual targeting is back again:
Brands and digital advertisers are resuming their use of contextual targeting. Previously disregarded in favor of more privacy-invading options, contextual targeting is making a comeback post-GDPR.
Surprisingly, nearly half of marketers in the United States and a third of marketers in the United Kingdom already consider it their preferred targeting method. And the truth is that contextual advertising isn’t going away anytime soon. Its comeback, in fact, has the potential to benefit display marketers.
RMI has the ability of built-in contextual targeting in its Programmatic Trade Desk program.
What is contextual targeting, and how does it work?
Contextual targeting is a very ancient and straightforward method. It entails placing the most relevant adverts in the most appropriate setting. It’s ads that are placed in the most appropriate location to be read, listened, or watched – and it’s not (and never has been) limited to digital.
Brands, for example, continue to acquire TV ad spots during shows that are relevant to their products. Consider sportsbooks during sporting events, stores during cooking shows, and hair items in women’s publications. The idea is that the most relevant message is shown to the appropriate customer.
Contextual targeting is Privacy friendly:
Contextual targeting has nothing to do with the user viewing a banner; it’s all about the surroundings of the website where the ad is shown. The observer is largely anonymous.
The content of the webpage is the only data that the ad tech uses for contextual targeting. And the goal is to find the best banner ad for the website.
Brand safety is not a worry anymore:
Machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI)-powered technologies are now being used to deliver a more accurate understanding of content. As a result, marketers can now target their audience in a brand-safe manner, including sentiment research. As a result, sensitive information that could cause embarrassment is avoided. Another reason for the rise in contextual targeting for display advertising is because of this.
What is contextual targeting in display advertising and how does it work?
A contextual advertising system examines a website’s text for keywords and serves display ads based on the keywords identified (or phrases). More advanced contextual targeting systems will scan for other contextual information (such as alt text) and will be able to read the page’s sentiment as well, boosting relevancy and avoiding brand safety concerns.
Keyword targeting is restricted by Google:
Google no longer advice advertisers about the type of material where their ad may appear due to programming changes. Google no longer include contextual content categories — content identifiers such as “sports,” “news,” or “weather”
These broad category phrases, on the other hand, aren’t particularly good for contextual targeting. Companies wanting to dig down into contextual data taxonomies should avoid using signifiers like “sports” or “weather.”
Furthermore, don’t panic: Google is no longer the dominant player in contextual targeting. Many media buyers and DSPs now do not rely on Google’s contextual category data.
Finally, it’s evident that contextual targeting is a format of targeting that’s on the rise in the post-GDPR era. And, for that matter, a format with the potential to improve over time.
Contextual targeting necessitates both innovative and appropriate digital advertisements. As a result, having the greatest advertising technology is critical.
If you want to know more about it in detail, let us know. We would love to hear from you.
Written by: Fahad Qureshi