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Article:
Contextual Advertising: Is it Right for You? by: Merle If online advertising had fads, contextual ads would be the latest 'in thing.' Also known as 'content targeting,' they seem to be 'popping up' (no pun intended) all over the Web. From news sites to privately owned websites, everyone and his brother seems to be dipping his 'toe in the water.' So what is contextual advertising and why should you care? I thought you'd never ask. You know how when you read a magazine, the pages are littered with ads? Context ads do the same thing, but with a twist. It's a way of distributing Pay Per Click search results across the Net. Here's how it works: the text of a web page is scanned for 'keywords' or a theme, then ads are shown that are related to the page's content. A website's content is matched up with the advertisers' keywords. For example,if I were reading a page about dogs. there would be pet related ads, usually contained in the right hand side or sometimes the top and bottom of the pages. Unlike ads that are shown on Search Engine results pages, these ads are dynamic and allow you to reach people in a different mode other then search. Some call this more of a 'shopping mode.' Whatever you want to call it, context ads are distributed through millions of partner sites across the Internet. Some advertisers claim that click thru rates are lower for this type of ad, compared to standard PPC search results ads. You might want to do your own testing to validate that claim for yourself. There are two ways to approach contextual advertising: as a publisher, and as an advertiser. Website publishers can earn extra money by displaying ads and enhancing their content. This is not a bad way to earn extra income that might just pay for your web hosting bills, and then some. Advertisers may find that context ads provide yet another means of attracting targeted traffic. You only pay for click thrus, not exposure. Make sure your ads are narrowly focused, i.e., they should only deal with one topic. You can also 'pre qualify' prospects by using what's called 'negative qualifiers' in your ad's description. Some examples are 'For men over '35
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