How contextual advertising has become the ‘Cookie Monster’

Yes, we can say that contextual advertising has taken a step back to gain momentum. And given the circumstances, this type of advertising, almost a pioneer in the digital space, He's swallowed the cookies.

The opener of an El País article explains very well the reasons for this resurgence of contextual advertising: “The demand for privacy, the end of third-party cookies, and artificial intelligence are driving an industry-leading strategy.

We saw it coming, before it happened... And that's because, as an agency, we were born at the dawn of the ‘democratisation’ of the internet. And throughout these more than 20 years of history, Not only have we been witnesses, but also active participants, in the evolution that online advertising has undergone.

While contextual advertising wasn't one of the very first advertising strategies on the internet, it has indeed been an important and effective advertising technique since the early days of the commercial web.

In the early years of the internet, the most common forms of online advertising included static banners and pop-ups, which had a broader and less specific targeting. However, as websites evolved, advertising became more sophisticated. New strategies emerged to ‘chase’ customers who had shown the slightest interest in a product, leading to targeting techniques that leveraged website content and user behaviour to direct specific ads at groups of people who shared certain characteristics or behaviours., with the aim of increasing the relevance and effectiveness of online advertising. Among these techniques, we found contextual advertising.

One of the earliest examples of contextual advertising was the insertion of ads related to the content of a specific web page. For example, if a user was reading an article about travel, they could see advertisements related to hotels, flights, or other travel-related services. This form of contextual advertising leveraged the context of the content the user had shown an interest in to make the adverts more relevant to them, instead of relying on your browsing history.

Thus, we can define contextual advertising as an online marketing strategy that involves showing ads to users based on the content they are viewing or their themed browsing behaviour. This means that the ads are relevant to the context of the webpage on which they appear or to the user's interests and actions at that moment. In other words, Contextual advertising adapts to the user's environment and behaviour to increase relevance and effectiveness of advertisements. This defines how marketing professionals understand and apply this technique to reach their audience more precisely and meaningfully.

Although first the cookies ate the monster

When did contextual advertising begin to lose ground? When targeted advertising began to gain prominence. Targeted advertising is a digital marketing strategy that uses data collected about users' online interests and behaviours to personalise and deliver specific ads. This technique is based on the use of cookies and other tracking technologies to create detailed user profiles, which allows advertisers to display Relevant and timely advertisements to specific audiences. Targeted advertising is characterised by its ability to maximise the relevance and effectiveness of ads by adapting to users' individual interests, although it has also generated privacy and data protection concerns personal.

Targeted advertising primarily uses third-party cookies, are cookies placed on a website by domains other than the one the user is visiting. These cookies are used by advertising networks and other technology companies to track user behaviour across numerous websites and compile data on their interests and preferences.

Nevertheless, towards the end of the last decade, concerns about the protection of our online activity privacy intensified. In 2018, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), established stricter rules on the protection and processing of personal data of European Union citizens, with the aim of giving individuals greater control over their personal data in the digital age.

In this way, Contextual advertising has regained prominence in this new regulatory landscape for several reasons. In the first place, due to a lower dependence on third-party cookies. Since GDPR requires explicit consent for the use of cookies, Many companies have reduced their reliance on third-party cookies., are commonly used in retargeting and other behavioural data-based advertising strategies. Contextual advertising, on the other hand, is based on the content of the webpage and does not necessarily require the use of third-party cookies to target ads.

On the other hand, for a greater focus on the relevance of the content. With the restrictions surrounding the use of tracking cookies, companies are turning their attention to contextual advertising, which focuses on the relevance of the content of the web page on which the ads are displayed. This can provide a a more coherent and less intrusive advertising experience for users, as the adverts are directly related to the content they are viewing.

Finally, because it makes it easier to comply with regulations. And contextual advertising It can be easier to implement in compliance with GDPR., as it does not require the same level of personal data collection and processing as other forms of targeted advertising. This can reduce the regulatory burden and simplify the compliance process.

The Roaring Twenties of contextual advertising

However, the GDPR did not mark the end point of regulation aimed at protecting the privacy of users' online browsing. In January of this year, the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) brought into effect The latest update to the Cookie Guide, establishing a transitional period of six months for adaptation. This update has been carried out to comply with the new Guidelines 03/2022 of the European Data Protection Board.

Thus, the AEPD's Cookie Guide introduces several requirements and guidelines. On the one hand, The Actions to accept or reject cookies must be presented in a prominent location and format. Both actions must be on the same level, with no more difficulty in rejecting them than in accepting them.

On the other hand, when the user themselves makes decisions about customisation cookies (for example, the choice of website language or the currency in which you wish to transact), are considered technical cookies which do not require consent. However, when it is the publisher that makes these types of decisions about personalisation cookies based on information obtained from the user, You must report on it, prominently offering the option to accept or reject them.

Lastly, regarding cookie walls, for consent to be considered freely given, access to the service and its functionalities cannot be conditional on the user consenting to the use of cookies. Therefore, there may be situations where non-acceptance of cookie usage prevents access to the website or the full or partial use of the service, provided that The user should be informed, and the publisher should offer an alternative way to access the service without accepting the use of cookies..

It is important to mention that, since August 2023, Google has set a new requirement for websites that display ads to their users through the Google ecosystem.. In order to continue with this activity, you will need to have implemented an IAB-certified cookie banner as a CMP. Furthermore, from January 2024, publishers using Google AdSense, Ad Manager, AdMob, or platforms that support Google auctions will be required to implement a Google-certified CMP, integrated with IAB Europe's Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF). Finally, the Google Analytics 4 ecosystem is preparing to face the “Cookieless” scenario with the introduction of Consent Mode V2. Announced in November of last year, this new version becomes mandatory for advertisers from March 2024.

More reasons for happiness in contextual advertising

Yes, the deployment experienced by artificial intelligence in these 20 years we are living is another reason for happiness for the monster that contextual advertising represents today.

Although the application of artificial intelligence and big data in contextual advertising has been an evolutionary process that has taken several decades, it is now when it is experiencing its greatest splendour.

In the business and advertising world, the change has been significant since the adoption of these technologies. The predictive capability of these tools has led to a redesign of marketing as we knew it. And it is that tools like those of big data help to automate, simplify and speed up processes that would entail enormous human effort without them.

In the business and advertising world, the change has been significant since the adoption of these technologies. In particular, Contextual advertising is becoming one of the most popular methods for serving ads online, due to these developments in artificial intelligence technology. In this way, data collection, which is enabled by big data, and the application of artificial intelligence as a means of optimising creative campaigns are two main approaches in the current advertising system.

How and what for are they used? Firstly, for the Data analysis. Big data makes it possible to collect large volumes of data about users' online behaviour, including their searches, social media interactions, and browsing history, among other things. Artificial intelligence can analyse this data to identify user patterns, trends, and preferences.

Secondly, for the audience segmentation. By using AI techniques and big data analysis, advertisers can segment their audience into more specific and detailed groups. This allows them to target adverts more precisely at users who are more likely to be interested in a particular product or service.

Furthermore, they allow for the maximisation of ad personalization. And that's because artificial intelligence can use contextual and behavioural data to personalise ads in real time. For example, if a user is browsing a tech article, AI can display ads related to technology products. This increases the relevance of ads and improves the user experience.

Likewise, it allows for greater Campaign optimisation, Artificial intelligence can automate and optimise the process of buying advertising space, automatically adjusting bids and ad targeting based on real-time performance. This helps to maximise return on advertising spend and improve campaign effectiveness.

Finally, fine tune the Prediction of results, given that artificial intelligence can predict the future performance of an advertising campaign based on historical and real-time data. This allows advertisers to make informed decisions about how to allocate their advertising budget more effectively.

A special mention must be made of the application of artificial intelligence to advertising creativity in various ways, allowing personalise the message and the creative from advertisements or generate recommendations based on each user's interests, behaviours and needs.

Ultimately, as we were discussing at the start, In MIG Prisma, we saw it coming... and it arrivedFor this reason, we are ahead of the current paradigm, being one of the first independent agencies in this country to combine Strategy, creativity and technology. Because we are a HumAIn team that creates ideas based on the knowledge and understanding of new cultural catalysts, on the constant experimentation with new trends, and on the development of dynamic narratives that give rise to inspiring brand experiences. We combine the talent of transdisciplinary teams with the power of data, technology, and artificial intelligence.

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