Putting Some Context Around Behavioral Advertising
Photo by Chad Paul at Company 119

Putting Some Context Around Behavioral Advertising

It’s Creepy and Comforting All at the Same Time.

There you are on the ESPN website, looking at the highlights from yesterday’s games, when you notice that all of the banner and display ads on the page feature the Cleveland Browns. One is ad to buy tickets. Another ad is to sell you some brand new Browns gear. Yet another promotes your favorite wing joint who gives you half-off wings during the games. This is clearly the work of Big Brother, right? And yet, it’s nice to know that your computer knows you well enough to only show you the team you care about and ads for local restaurants that you can actually visit if you like the specials.

The layman’s term for this digital marketing phenomenon is “Illuminati Voodoo”. In the industry we use the terms Contextual and Behavioral Marketing to describe what’s going on. And we are just tapping into where marketers hope the two trends will take us.

So What's the Difference?

The two marketing channels are very close to one another in the way they work, but they are different and can be used for different applications for best practices.

Contextual ads run content based on what the other content on the page centers around. Why do you get Browns ads on ESPN? Because you have a history that indicates that you look at content centering around the Browns, and what better time to show you Browns merchandise than when your mind is on football. The entire goal of contextual content is to catch you in the right mood to show you a specific product. If you are looking at highlights of a game, there is a likely predisposition to think about attending a game soon, and that sounds like the perfect time to show you an offer to catch your favorite team.

Showing you an advertisement for a product at the exact time your mind is likely thinking about that product sounds like the most perfect digital marketing strategy ever. And in some cases, it is just that.

So why would anyone need an alternative option?

Behavioral Advertising is actually seen as more effective by many in the industry. Behavioral ads use browser histories, sites visited the most frequently and demographics including things like education level to provide you with targeted ads for your interests, even if they appear on sites that don’t have anything to do with the product being advertised. Let’s say you like to visit travel sites, sites that sell basketball shoes and entertainment sites. It could be that on that ESPN page you’ll see an ad for plane tickets, one for the new LeBron sneakers and then an ad for US Weekly (we won’t tell anyone). Behavioral advertising is tailored for the person’s overall habits, not just the site they are on at the moment, so for many publishers, this is the preferred channel to use when running an ad set.

My How Times Have Changed!

We are about 15 years into the run of these types of ads, and the culture of information protection online has changed. Data protection acts that have recently passed around the world have made it vital that the internet user’s information and privacy be protected at all costs. Between the two methods, Contextual advertising is seen as the less intrusive, and that is causing a resurgence for the method. It is less data heavy and doesn’t rely as much on the browser history that the newer regulations are trying to protect.

With less reliance on information that most internet users deem as something they would want to keep confidential, contextual marketing is looking to make a comeback.

Which is better? That is in the eye of the beholder and is largely dependent on the size of the market you are operating in and the type of product or service you are offering. But here is little doubt as to which is safer, and in today’s virtual marketing world, that could be the difference as to which stream to concentrate on.

Company 119 can help you make decisions that can increase your organic traffic and help you convert more leads. Contact us today and find out if your strategy should involve contextual or behavioral advertising.

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