Why it’s time to reconsider the Semantic Contextual targeting in your marketing strategy?
Why it’s time to reconsider the Semantic Contextual Targeting in your marketing strategy?
1 – The end of 3rd party cookies: A new era of content-based targeting
In the past few years, we’ve seen a shift in privacy and regulatory concerns. To be fair, we all knew the day would come when Google, following in the footsteps of Safari and Firefox, would announce the blocking of third-party cookies in Chrome web browsers. Even though this announcement will significantly transform the ad tech market, we have 2 years to adapt, innovate and find new ways to reach audiences that fully preserve user privacy.
However, alternatives already exist, and among them, semantic contextual targeting is one of the most successful. This cookie-free solution enables publishers to capitalize on their most important asset, their content and allows advertisers to accurately reach audiences at times when they are most receptive to their message.
2 – What is Semantic Contextual Targeting?
Semantic contextual targeting is a technique of serving ads that are relevant to their surrounding context. In this regard, it is most comparable to a print ad in a specialist magazine. For example, placing an advertisement for cooking utensils on a recipe article, or a banner to promote English lessons on a translation site. It is a really powerful and efficient approach as it helps reach audiences in an editorial context where they are more receptive to the ad displayed. It’s all about catching the right audience at the right time and in the right place!
Compared to traditional semantic or keyword approaches, semantic contextual targeting is more sophisticated as it is based on the semantic analysis of page content to determine its true meaning. Opting for keyword targeting, you might miss the true essence of a page. For instance, by targeting the word “golf” to reach golf enthusiasts, you will indeed encompass sports pages, but also websites talking about the Volkswagen Golf car (which is not your goal!). On the other hand, a semantic contextual approach helps discern whether a page is about sport or anything else, such as cars.
3 – How does it work?
- Using automatic natural language processing (NLP), the algorithm scans the relevant content of the page to understand its true meaning. It takes into account the sequence of words, the probability that they appear, and their meaning. Then, as a human would, the algorithm sorts these pages into categories.
- When a specific semantic contextual category is targeted in a campaign, ads will only be displayed on pages that match this category.
4 – How can Smart help you leverage semantic contextual?
As part of its data marketplace, Smart has developed a built-in semantic contextual algorithm based on artificial intelligence which is natively integrated into its ad server and SSP. Using this tool, publishers can activate a wide range of self-served and ready-to-use segments to target audiences on specific thematic pages. These segments are directly available for targeting or exclusion when creating deals or direct campaigns, which allows publishers to efficiently answer buyers’ briefs and help them reach their most desired audience.
