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Contextual Web Advertising -- Good, Bad, or Ugly?
"Contextual" web advertising is the placement of your banner ad or, more usually, two lines of copy and a link to your site, on the same page as web content that relates to your issue. The easiest-to-understand example of this is the search engine "keyword buy" program. You write an ad for your nonprofit and select keywords that, when entered by a computer user, will display your ad as well as the normal keyword results. The Washington Post is among the growing number of web publishers placing contextual advertising. You can arrange that your ad for flood relief in the Sudan will be shown at the bottom of any article that mentions "Sudan' or 'flood'. This is a powerful use of Internet technology to reduce the over-exposure of Internet advertising and to make placement available to smaller-budget advertisers, like nonprofits. Sometimes this strategy can backfire. I recently read an article on Washingtonpost.com that mentioned how a suburban Maryland elementary school was the scene of a late-night drug-related shooting. School was canceled for the day while the body was examined and evidence collected in the parking lot. At the bottom of the article was an ad from NeighborhoodScout.com stating: "Maryland Public Schools: Find Excellent public school ratings for every school district." No doubt this advertiser thought it would be good to be featured in every article with the words 'Maryland' and 'school'. Perhaps they should have excluded pages that include 'shooting' 'crime scene' or 'shot multiple times'! For more information on successful keyword buy campaigns and contextual advertising for your nonprofit, contact us at 540-428-3640 or mailto:Rick@npadvisors.com. November 2003 | |
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