What is contextual targeting?
Contextual targeting places ads based on the content someone is viewing, such as the topic, keywords or sentiment of a page, video or app, rather than on who they are or what they did before. A running-shoe ad on a marathon article is contextual. Because it needs no personal data or cookies, it is privacy-friendly and resilient to tracking restrictions.
Contextual targeting was the original form of advertising and made a comeback as signal loss reduced behavioral targeting. Modern systems use natural language processing and computer vision to classify pages and videos at scale, and can also power brand suitability controls.
It is the default for child-directed content under COPPA and for users who decline consent under GDPR. Its limits are reach and frequency management across sites, which is why many buyers combine it with first-party data.