Ad revenue
Bookmarked Ad revenue by Jeremy Keith.
It’s almost like an article of faith that behavioural advertising is more effective than contextual advertising. But there’s no data to support this. Quite the opposite.
Around two decades ago, I was interviewed by a local newspaper in relation to my then occupation as a web developer and independent publisher. Predictably, the journalist asked me to predict the future.
I was so convinced when I answered that it was all about contextual advertising. Ad engines would differentiate by optimising the art of understanding context and serving up the most suitable ad.
It seemed like such a no-brainer. It's a win for the publisher. It's a win for the advertiser. And, crucially, for the end user who's served topically relevant ads without having their privacy violated in every which way.
I'm glad Jeremy took the time to point out that there's plenty of research showing that the assumption still holds. And I'm glad regulators are starting to cop on to the fact that there's a viable alternative to the current, dystopian world of targeted ads.