Contextual Advertising Delivers Targeted Traffic

While similar in presentation to the "Sponsored Results" found on Yahoo (provided by Overture) and Google Adwords, contextual advertising is fundamentally different in the way it are distributed to visitors. Traditional search advertising appears on the search results page of major engines and portals; contextual ads appear on content-based websites across the web.

Because contextual advertising is placed on content websites, rather than on the search results pages of major engines and portals, it is more similar in distribution and placement to banner advertisements than to keyword-based search engine advertising. That said, contextual ads have several advantages over traditional banners.

Banners tend to be placed on a site-by-site basis, making the process of identifying and negotiating advertising agreements time-consuming. The most targeted banner campaigns -- "Run-of-Category" placements -- are an inexact science.

Unlike banners, which tend to be graphic-heavy and intrusive, contextual advertising offers text-based ads which are comparatively subtle. Text-based ads have proven to have higher customer receptivity than banners, and tend to generate higher clickthrough rates.

Contextual advertising campaigns are designed similarly to keyword-based search advertising campaigns. Advertisers choose keywords relevant to their products or services and draft text-based creative for select keywords. Ads are served automatically to participating content sites based on matching or relevancy algorithms. These algorithms pair up the keywords you use to define your contextual ads campaign with web pages hosting content related to those keywords.

Because many sites that will feature your ad have high rankings for your targeted keywords, contextual ads expand your audience reach by allowing users to find your site even if they missed it in the search results. For that reason contextual ads offer an excellent opportunity to expand the reach of your advertising strategy.