How To Balance Scale, Granularity On the Vertical Tightrope
ADOTAS EXCLUSIVE – Among the many passing industry trends, “verticalization” remains a key term in the online advertising industry. Whether it’s the promotion of vertical networks, vertical pay-per-click campaigns, or generally speaking — the verticalization of search — the terms’ use is ubiquitous.
However, one key area in which we have not seen an overindulgence in the use of the term is within behavioral targeting. The verticalization of behavioral targeting (BT) is where some of the greatest opportunities exist. As BT companies collect a growing amount of data, this data needs to be packaged in an optimal way to enable media owners and advertisers to leverage it.
The challenge lies in balancing scale and granularity. Many providers have divided their collected data into vertical categories to help advertisers reach an audience tailored to their industry. These main, broader categories may encompass Auto, Travel, Business, etc. Different vertical categories of purchase intent data can be made available to ad networks and large publishers seeking to maximize their targeting capabilities. Data can easily be categorized on an advertiser-friendly and privacy-sensitive basis.
However, many advertisers are looking to strike a balance between reaching prospects expressing interest in their category and prospects expressing interest in a specific product. This optimized mix could be created to an extent through the development of subcategories that fall within the main categories. This allows interactive advertisers to choose between targeting a larger group and/or targeting a smaller group based on their specific campaign needs. For example, within campaign X the advertiser may need to reach all “Travel” users, while simultaneously, within campaign Y they need to run a campaign that reaches only users that are in the market for “flight to LAX.”
It is important to remember, however, that creating an optimal category mix is only one minor piece of the puzzle. To get the best results, advertisers must be able to access vertical-specific data that demonstrates purchase intent. While sophisticated in their own way, many behavioral targeting companies focus mainly on content that, while falling within a specific vertical category, is not indicative of the reader’s intent to purchase.
Leveraging purchase intent data provides advertisers with access to users that are further along within the purchase cycle. Potential customers are more focused on finding exactly what they want because they have spent far more time on vertical sites researching a possible purchase.
Moving forward, the challenge is to provide advertisers with purchase intent data within larger vertical categories, with a deeper granularity in those verticals. This will enable advertisers to leverage a far wider scale of data in highly defined niches. To-date most networks and sites have been able to offer either scale with little granularity or some granularity without scale, which is why it makes sense for most of them to work with external data providers.
Reader Comments.
No comments yet
Leave a Comment
Article Sponsor
More Features
-
Loading ...
Latest News
- BlueKai Report Explains DMPs to Publishers February 10th 2012 ADOTAS - BlueKai released a report this week on the [...] more »
- Funding in Brief: $10M for Spongecell, $8M for Prolexic February 9th 2012 ADOTAS – Rich media ad company Spongecell has raised $10 million [...] more »
- Google AdMob Axes Minimum Bids, Targeting Fees February 9th 2012 ADOTAS - As of Feb. 15, Google will change its [...] more »
- Infographic: HootSuite Analyses Social Media Impact of Super Bowl Ads February 7th 2012 ADOTAS - So, it’s the Tuesday after the Super Bowl, [...] more »
- Facebook to Serve Mobile Ads in Coming Weeks February 6th 2012 ADOTAS – According to a Financial Times report, Facebook will [...] more »
- Survey: 39 Percent of Mobile Users Responded to Super Bowl Ads Via Mobile February 6th 2012 ADOTAS - During the Super Bowl yesterday, mobile ad network [...] more »
- Sponsormob Leads the Way Into RTB for Mobile February 3rd 2012 ADOTAS – For more than half a decade, Berlin-based tech [...] more »
Features
- BlueKai Report Explains DMPs to Publishers February 10th 2012
- Attribution Online: Introducers and Influencers and Closers… Oh My! February 9th 2012
- With gTLDs, Global Branding Starts with a Name February 9th 2012
- Rethinking the Online Advertising Ecosystem, Part One: Independent Publishers February 8th 2012
- Case Study: Social Ad Effectiveness February 8th 2012
Spotlight
Sponsormob Leads the Way Into RTB for MobileADOTAS – For more than half a decade, Berlin-based tech firm Sponsormob has remained relevant in an industry characterized by [...] more...
Reader Favorites
Classifieds
- PS Technical Writer - SEO Data Analyst
- Interactive Project Manager
- Media Buyer
- PHP Software Engineer (Facebook Platform/Social AP
- SEO/Marketing Internship at Green Education Startu
Recent Comments
- HootSuite Social Media Management » More Apps, Open API, and the Solution Partner Program ~ News Roundup: [...] mentioned in our HootSuite’s Super Bowl XLVI Social Media Recap, adotas and MediaPost analyzed our
- News about Google Adwords issue #412: [...] ads for AdWords to adCenter and align with industry standards, adCenter has chang
- VB: What exactly makes an ad "high quality"?
- Survey: 39 Percent of Mobile Users Responded to Super Bowl Ads Via Mobile - ADOTAS | Mobile2 | Scoop.it: [...] background-position: 50% 0px; background-color:#222222; background-repeat : no-repeat; }