Contextual 2.0
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Written By Kate Zimmermann | September 8, 2006 | Share This
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Marketers have been getting excited about the recent distribution deals cut between search engines and social networks. Understandably so: the Google/MySpace and Facebook/MSN deals not only add a massive amount of available inventory to the search & contextual marketplace, but they also give marketers an easy way to get in front of a young, tech-savvy and incredibly engaged audience. After all, Myspace sent more traffic to retail sites than MSN last week, making it the 3rd place referrer. And even more important, according to this Associated Press poll, Internet users actually prefer web 2.0 content with ads. What’s not to like?
Let’s be honest here – The jury’s still largely out on contextual. While we’ve used it effectively for many of our clients, there’s no question that contextual works best when it’s managed separately from search. Distinct ad groups, distinct creative… in some instances we even feature different appeals and calls to action. The users who see these ads are in a completely different state of mind than searchers. They typically aren’t in “search and find” mode, they’re in “read and absorb,” and as a result, the ads aren’t as relevant to their experience. However, well targeted contextual ads work when they’re related to the content presented on the page, and may provide additional interesting information to the reader – because the reader’s already interested in the subject being covered.
Now consider social networking sites. Users visit pages in those networks not because of the concepts being discussed, but because of the people they know. You may like the same bands, movies, books or sports teams as your friends, but that’s not why you’re ending up at their pages. You’re there to catch up on what’s new with your crew. This is going to completely change the way marketers need to message to these groups.
At the moment, however, content ad networks (or future network, in the case of MSN) don’t separate social media from other content pages. (here we go again – I’m having flashbacks from the early days of the contextual networks)
Despite the fact that blogs account for 26% of all search results for corporate trademarks, the engines offer little insight on best practices for writing creative copy for a web 2.0 audience. People reading blogs, checking Myspace, searching Flickr, or using other P2P sites, are browsing with different interests & levels of reception than readers at the WSJ or CNN.
Furthermore, the millions of web 2.0 profiles in existence have a wealth of information. Instead of evaluating content on a page level, why not evaluate it on a profile level? How are these people connected beyond page content? By taking into account the social environment of web 2.0, marketers could discern what networked friends have in common on a topical basis and potentially use that to target ads to the community.
Whether the 2.0 influence will help contextual convert at or above the level of search will depend highly on new methods of determining relevancy. Overall, both the engines and marketers need to seriously consider the fact that the composition and makeup of contextual is about to shift dramatically.
Topics: Advertising: Contextual |