What is contextual targeting and when is it advantageous?

• A. It relies on user identity data to match across devices.
• B. Targeting based on surrounding content and context rather than user data; advantageous when privacy constraints are high or data is limited.
• C. It is identical to demographic targeting.
• D. It yields the same results across all campaigns.

Answer: (B)

Contextual targeting focuses on the surrounding content and context to decide where an ad should appear, rather than relying on who the user is or their past actions. This approach is especially advantageous when privacy constraints are high or data is limited because it doesn’t depend on personal identifiers or cross-device tracking. It matches ads to relevant content—for example, a running shoe ad appearing on a sports article—while keeping user data largely anonymous. Since the signals come from the current context, outcomes can vary across campaigns based on the quality and relevance of the contextual signals and where you place ads. This is different from demographic or behavior-based targeting that uses user attributes or past behavior.