A report released by GumGum has shown that around 61% of US ad publishers opt for contextual ads. Besides that, 24% of advertisers are considering hiking their budget for contextual ads. So, what is this contextual advertising? Let’s find out in this blog. 

What is Contextual advertising all about?

It is a type of targeted advertising that uses content and keywords of the webpage instead of user behaviour for displaying ads. It means this form of advertising does rely upon the content of those pages; in fact, a consumer’s online behaviour is a secondary point of consideration. However, the segmentation of ads is dependent on parameters like website topic or related keywords. 

For instance, if a user is going through a blog about fashion hacks, there could be ads on the web page related to different fashion products. They are placed there on the premise of where the visitor currently is rather than considering where the visitor has been. 

Contextual advertising come forward as an alternative for behavioural targeting (kind of ads that uses the user data for displaying ads on the webpages). 

Thus, it provides the choice for ad publishers, advertisers, and brands to implement an advertising strategy that does not exploit user data.

Major benefits of contextual advertising

Contextual advertising is beneficial to both the ad publishers and the users. Following are some of the major benefits of contextual advertising:

1. Not subject to policy regulations 

To make a behavioural advertising campaign successful, ad publishers need to gather user data such as, user’s operating system, websites they visit and engage with, their preferences, which CTAs they click on, etc. 

Nevertheless, collecting user data is not an easy task. Regulations like General Data Protection Act (GDPR) pose a challenge as ad publishers requires to ask for the users’ permission as and when needed. If users don’t grant permission, data collection becomes difficult. 

Unlike behavioural ad campaigns, contextual advertising does not ask for user data. This saves contextual ads from any form of privacy-oriented legislation. Thus, contextual ads become a convenient alternative for advertisers.  

2. Easier and economical execution 

Contextual ads don’t require much of a budget. Since data collection is a prerequisite for behavioural advertising, it requires a significant amount of human and financial resources for effective execution. Besides that, advertisers also require related tools and software to optimize the entire process of execution. Brands that lack any of these resources cannot implement behavioural ad campaigns effectively.

Whereas advertisers do not have to invest in a considerable amount of resources to successfully implement contextual advertising. Thus, it is a cost-effective and convenient alternative, especially for small businesses and startups.  

3. Do not harm the brand reputation

Ad publishers tend to have limited control over what kinds of ads appear on their websites. Thus, their websites may display some adult and violent ads from any industry. This can be harmful to their brand reputation. 

On the other hand, contextual advertising does not pose any such risk as ads are displayed strictly based on the related topic or keywords. It does not matter what users have been consuming online. Contextual ads ensure the display of relevant ads without risking brand reputation. 

4. Comply with the privacy issues

Contextual advertising sticks to the context and does not sneak into user’s personal data. Thus, implementing them does not come under the ambit of debate about the ethics of gathering user data (especially when data is collected without the user’s permission). Moreover, some brands have target audiences that are concerned about privacy issues. Thus, they won’t allow brands to install cookies on their devices. 

Having said that, contextual advertising are simpler as they comply with privacy issues. Thus, it is the safest source of generating revenue from advertising.

Concluding thoughts 

Contextual advertising is a convenient, affordable and effective mode of advertising. Moreover, it allows advertisers or ad publishers to exert control over the display of their ads. Its execution is also much easier. Thus, it’s the best option for startups and small businesses to step into the world of advertising.