DoubleVerify (“DV”), (NYSE: DV), a leading software platform for digital media measurement, data, and analytics, today announced the launch of Custom Contextual targeting for DV Publisher Suite. The new solution enables premium digital publishers to effectively monetize in the post-cookie era, without sacrificing consumer privacy, by positively targeting relevant ads and aligning inventory with advertiser targeting objectives.
“Increased privacy regulation and the deprecation of third-party cookies and mobile identifiers are ushering in a shift away from third-party audience targeting,” said Mark Zagorski, CEO of DoubleVerify. “We are thrilled to launch DV Custom Contextual for publishers, a privacy-safe solution that draws on our 10+ years of experience in ontology to help both advertisers and publishers drive performance, by aligning ads with content that is contextually relevant to consumers.”
Unlike solutions that rely heavily on keyword analysis, Custom Contextual leverages DV’s Semantic Science engine to create highly relevant and accurate targeting categories. Using this approach, DV classifies content into 200,000+ concepts, as well as new in-market and event-based categories, enabling publishers to prioritize and price inventory based on the topics that resonate most with specific advertisers.
“Leveraging keywords for contextual targeting can lead to ads being served alongside irrelevant content, or worse, content that’s outside brand safety standards,” said Mimi Wotring, SVP of Publisher Sales and Client Services at DoubleVerify. “Simply put, keyword-based contextual targeting has a ceiling of effectiveness for audience targeting and, therefore, inventory monetization. We are excited to unlock the full potential of contextual targeting, helping publishers thrive in a post-cookie, privacy-first world.”
In addition to IAB categories, publishers can enable advertisers to target customers with ads in seasonal categories, such as Halloween and Black Friday, as well as in-market categories to target content relevant to purchase intenders.
For example, DoubleVerify’s “In-Market Auto & Vehicles” category specifically focuses on content that signifies vehicle purchase intent, such as vehicle reviews. Alternatively, the standard IAB category for “Automotive,” has a broader focus and would not only include the vehicle review site, but also include content not specific to purchase consideration like an article on the history of automobiles. This makes it less clear where an ad is reaching the customer in their path to purchase
Publishers using DV Custom Contextual will benefit from:
- Increased CPMs: Using DV Custom Contextual allows publishers to sell segments of inventory as premium placements. Often this inventory would otherwise be sold as “Run of Site” but by providing content adjacency, it can be packaged at premium CPMs.
- Decreased Data Costs: Publishers who are reliant on third-party data for audience or behavioral targeting via a DMP, may see this as a low-cost alternative that actually safeguards their products against a future without cookies.
- Scale: With over 400 signals to target with, publishers get granular coverage of all of the potential niche segments of traffic that buyers may be looking to reach. For example, Health & Fitness is broken into 45 subcategories so that publishers can differentiate between content about Allergies vs Exercise vs Nutrition and find the unique pockets of inventory for each advertiser they work with.
DoubleVerify previously launched Custom Contextual for advertisers in November 2020 to help brands deliver privacy-safe targeting programmatically across the customer journey. Now publishers can leverage the same technology to help them maximize the impact of their premium content and drive performance for brands across direct buys.
