WEB MARKETING SCIENTISTS

Contextual Advertising

What is contextual advertising?

News Article Written By: iQuantum

Contextual advertising is all about effectively targeting interested consumers at crucial stages during the process of product or information research. It is a sophisticated method of online marketing and is adaptable to the various needs of different businesses.

OK, we hear what you're saying - "Ah, right, but what is contextual advertising?"

As we all know, search engines have long been the hubs of online advertising activity. They provide an entry point to the internet for a majority of web surfers and many businesses work hard to ensure their website is visible to potential consumers by employing search engine optimisation techniques (SEO) or purchasing pay-per click campaigns (PPC) to achieve a high ranking amongst relevant search results.

Both of these online advertising methods are undoubtedly important to businesses of all kinds. However, larger companies often possess the buying power to bid with greater success for the most popular keywords, or have the advantage of greater resources to ensure SEO results. The need for alternative methods of online advertising delivery resulted in the emergence of a different type of contextual advertising. "OK, I get that, but what is contextual advertising?

Contextual advertising is a form of online advertising that involves the targeted placement of ads for display amongst relevant content. Many of the major search engine companies that offer pay per click advertising also feature contextual advertising systems, such as "Google AdSense" and "Content Match" offered by Yahoo! Search Marketing.

Some aspects of these systems operate in a similar manner to PPC programs, in that the advertiser pays when the ad is clicked. The main difference is the placement of the ads. Systems such as AdSense match ads from their advertising inventory to Web content that is included in their "content network" (a network of affiliated webmasters). Websites that are part of an advertising system's content network are encoded to call up relevant advertising when there is user traffic. The contextual advertising server provides this by assessing the keywords in the content that is being viewed. When an advertisement is clicked it provides revenue to both the website that hosts the advertisement and the ad server.

Content-based websites (such as publishing sites) that feature focused information pertaining to a particular topics through regular newsletters, articles and blogs can benefit from adding contextual advertising to their sites. Each time an Internet user clicks on one of the ads and leaves the site, the host site gets a fee. However, it is important to maintain a high standard of information and regular updates in order to attract the audience to re-visit the site, seeing as the aim of contextually placed ads is essentially to attract viewers to their own content-related sites.

Contextual advertising provides real exposure opportunities to businesses beyond initial search rankings and can provide vast benefits for small businesses by saving time and money in finding online target markets. So now you no longer need to ask "what is contextual advertising", it's time to make it work for you.

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