Contextual Advertising - What is it?

Contextual Advertising lightly defined:

These are advertisements appearing on websites or cell phones where the advertisements are selected and served by automated systems based on the content displayed by the user.

 

Contextual advertising really has improved the ability for websites to increase their advertising earnings. Why?  Contextual ads are targeted to specific criteria so they are more likely to get a click from the web user. This raises the potential to generate revenue for the owner of the website and the advertiser.

 

How does it work? Web designers use a JavaScript (software code) within their web pages to automate and display the advertising images based on a set of specific rules. The ads are triggered by relevance to the web user and then an ad is automatically selected from the websites inventory of advertisers.  This in essence is the ability to display advertising to you based on your likes and interests.