Feb 24 2008
Contextual Search Advertising Sucks
I am not a fan of contextual “search” marketing. I think the value of the inventory is overvalued and its usefulness is overblown.
The idea of contextual marketing sounds reasonable and, at face value, it makes sense.
According to Wikisuckia:
Advertising on a Web site that is targeted to the specific individual who is visiting the Web site. A contextual ad system scans the text of a Web site for keywords and returns ads to the Web page based on what the user is viewing … [for] example, if the user is viewing a site about sports, and the site uses contextual advertising, the user might see ads for sports-related companies, such as memorabilia dealers or ticket sellers.
If you’re selling red sports cars, you put your ad in an article about cars (hopefully it’s an article about red sports cars) … sounds perfectly logical, right?
But there are some pretty significant challenges with contextual advertising and some rules that should be applied.
First of all, should this really be considered “search” marketing? Absolutely not. Contextual advertising is just a different form of banner advertising. A relevant text ad? Hopefully. A better form of banner advertising? Yes. But it’s still, at its core, banner advertising. Contextual advertising is very clearly NOT search. So pretty please with sugar on top, STOP CALLING IT “SEARCH.”
Search marketing can effectively be divided into 2 significant channels of distribution: search engine results pages (SERPS) and contextual networks. The difference between SERPS and contextual networks is a critical distinction … it’s push vs. pull marketing. Contextually targeted advertising is (radio, TV, banner ads) whereby the advertiser is pushing out his messaging to his target audience versus the “pull” effect of keyword advertising-based (SERPS). A consumer that goes to a search engine and does a search query on the term “Buy Sony KE-50XBR950 Plasma Television” is in buy-mode and is most likely predisposed to buying in the near term. Consumers doing a search and finding a “pull” advertisement on a SERP are much further down the road in the buy cycle and are typically much closer to a buy decision than consumers responding (see, clicking) to a “push” marketing message. When comparing contextual to straight search, you get a consumer in sometimes wildly divergent locations within the buying cycle. Continue Reading »