With millions of Internet users spending their time and money on the web, contextual advertising appears to be a really attractive alternative to offline marketing. The best thing about contextual advertising is that online ads are placed on the sites with relevant content, so that visitors are more likely to click the ad, buy the product or even become repeat customers. So, how does it all work?

Contextual advertising systems scan a web page for some specific keywords and then display the ads related to that page. Contextual ads can also be placed on the search engine result pages which are relevant to the search topic. This way contextual advertising makes it possible to distribute your company’s brand across numerous web pages.

Contextual advertising offers a multitude of advantages. It allows advertisers to reach their target audience and drive massive traffic to the website. The vast majority of contextual advertising providers use pay per click (PPC) systems, meaning you pay only if your ad has been clicked. Another big advantage of contextual advertisements is that they’re less annoying in comparison with pop-up ads or huge banners. If the information you provide is helpful, the chances are the visitor will become your loyal customer or recommend your site to friends or co-workers.

As for the service providers, there are many contextual ad networks available on the web, including Google AdSense, Yahoo! Publisher Network or YPN, Vibrant Media, Chitika, Kontera and many more.

Let’s have a closer look at the most popular contextual ad programs.

Google AdSense is where it all started in 2003. Over the past years, Google has improved its technology greatly. Today Google AdSense allows publishers and advertisers work together and get good revenues for all parties involved.

• Google AdSense is available to users in most countries, so you can take advantage of the program even outside the US.
• It provides a quick and simple way to earn extra income. The application process takes minutes and it’s absolutely free.
• It offers a wide range of services for publishers and advertisers.

• With this program, you can choose the size, format and color of your advertisements.

• Google AdSense allows you to control the ads placed on your site. Depending on your requirements, you can block some ads, so that they won’t appear on your web pages.

• The program offers higher percentage of payment to a publisher than other contextual ad operator. Payouts occur at $100.
• With its extensive network of advertisers, Google AdSense provides a wide range of advertisements, so that publishers can easily find appropriate ads that will suit their visitors’ requirements.

• If your site or blog cannot boast several hundreds of visitors per day, you can hardly get the revenues you want
• Advertisements on the site change not that often. No new sites – fewer clicks.
• Click fraud is another problem. Your account can be closed due to click fraud done by third parties.

The second largest contextual ad network is Yahoo! Publisher Network. It works much like Google AdSense – publishers are paid per click and payout starts from $100.

• You can customize the ads by tailoring the size and color of ad units.

• Feel free to enjoy display capabilities and advanced ad targeting that can improve the relevance of your results.

• It offers a wide range of services and tools that allow you to get the most of your site.
• One of the best things about YPN is that it offers four payment options, including PayPal and Direct Deposit.

• This program is available only for US-based publishers.
• YPN comes with a long list of restrictions. Be sure to read them as the network reserves the right to remove the listings that are irrelevant to a certain web page.
• One of the main disadvantages of YPN is that it failed to attract enough advertisers.
• This program has a poor online publisher help. The link to YPN help is hard to find.
• Compared to Google AdSense, it doesn’t offer advanced reports, just every day data.

Virbant Media is a leading provider of contextual video advertising. This system highlights the keywords in web content with a green double-line. When users move their mouse over the phrase they’re interested in, the system displays a relevant image, text or video advertisement.

• It offers a 100% user-driven advertising experience. A user needs to mouse-over a hyperlinked word to view the advertisement.
• Vibrant Media comes with revolutionary ideas in advertising. Interactive ads look really great.

• You can choose from different products offered by Vibrant Media.

• Just like with most other programs, Vibrant Media ads are easy to implement.

• You can participate in this program if your site has at least 500,000 pageviews per month.
• You should pay close attention to the list of the countries where the company has its advertising campaigns. If your traffic resides outside the stipulated countries, you’ll have to check back again in 6 months.

Kontera’s ContentLinks is very similar to the program designed by Vibrant Media, the same pop-up ads and double-lined links.

 

• With ContentLink, you can maximize your ad revenue by running in-text ads alongside your existing text or other ads.
• It helps to generate high click-through rates (CTR).
• Just like with Vibrant Media, this system requires user intervention to be activated. Positive use experience guaranteed!
• You retain total control over you site’s appearance.
• ContentLinks doesn’t affect page-load speed.
• In-text ads can be placed on every type of website, including forums and blogs.

• The Kontera program is available only for users in the US and Canada.
• Again, your site needs to have a minimum of 250,000 monthly page views.
• It may confuse the visitors of your site with double-line links.
• It lacks real time statistics.