How to do Facebook Ads right (or, the best £100 you’ll spend this month)

Everyone should advertise on Facebook. Everyone. There are over 1 billion active (and growing) Facebook users. That’s 1/7th of the world’s population. And a significant chunk of your (anyone’s) target audience, all using a website that allows for wonderfully specific targeting. 

But running Facebook ad campaigns can be confusing – Facebook change their policies, there’s a myriad of options for how to structure a campaign, how best to target an audience, how to exclude people you don’t want to target … on and on. What we need is a simple run down of how to do Facebook ads right. Here’s how I would spend my first £100 on Facebook ads: 

Firstly though, it’s worth noting a few things up front: 

Online advertising requires patience. Usually, there are no ‘quick wins’. It can take months to hone your offer, your content and your target market. Give it time, continually adjust based on the results, and be prepared to move on if it’s not working for you. 

If Facebook ads work for you, be prepared to pile into it. Facebook gives you great control over who you target and how much you spend doing it. You’ll want to be measuring your return on the ads – and if they’re working, be prepared to quickly divert funds from other less profitable sources.


But look out for decay. Online ad performance will decline over time. A campaign that works well for you will slowly stop working. Pay attention to the point at which it’s performance drops below your level of expectation for that campaign, and refresh it. 

It’s all about the money. High click through rates are nice. It’s great to have an ad that sends a lot of people to your goal. But if you’re not converting those people (financially, or into email subs, or whatever conversion metric you use) then you’re wasting your money. And it’s all about the money.

You can read the full post here: How to do Facebook Ads right (or, the best £100 you’ll spend this month) 

An Easier Way to Watch Video

By Kelly Mayes

Today we’re starting to test an easier way to watch videos on Facebook. Now when you see a video in News Feed, it comes to life and starts playing. Videos initially play silently, and if you want you can tap to play with sound in full screen. Scroll past if you don’t want to watch.

People will see this in the coming weeks on mobile.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Which videos start playing in News Feed?

A. At this time, videos start playing from:

• Individuals (personal Facebook accounts or verified Pages)
• Pages of musicians and bands

Q. When do videos play with sound?

A. Videos only play with sound after you click on them.

Q. Will videos from advertisers start playing when I see them in News Feed?

A. At first, this feature will be limited to videos posted by individuals, musicians, and bands. We’re doing this to make sure we create the best possible experience. Over time, we’ll continue to explore how to bring this to marketers in the future.

Q. When is this coming to all Pages?

A. This is starting with a limited test and will continue to roll out over time.

Downloads:

• B-roll video and a screen shot

Testing a New Way for Marketers to Tell Stories in News Feed

Since September, we have been testing an easier way to watch videos shared by friends. Without having to click or tap play, videos come to life in News Feed and start playing without sound. Through the course of this test, we’ve seen a more than 10% increase in people watching, liking, sharing and commenting on videos. It’s a better experience for people and it’s leading to increased engagement.

This week, we’re starting to test this richer storytelling format for advertisers. Compelling sight, sound and motion are often integral components of great marketing campaigns, particularly when brands want to increase awareness and attention over a short period of time. From launching new products to shifting brand sentiment, this video format is ideal for marketers who are looking to make a large-scale impact, and for people who will discover more great content in their News Feeds.

For this test, we’re working with Summit Entertainment and Mindshare to promote a series of videos for the upcoming film, Divergent. Some people will see these video ads come to life as they scroll through News Feed on mobile and desktop. Here’s how it will work:

• Rather than having to click or tap on the content, videos will begin to play as they appear on screen — without sound — similar to how they behave when shared by friends now. If you don’t want to watch the video, you can simply scroll past it.
• If the video is clicked or tapped and played in full screen, the sound for that video will play as well
• At the end of the video, a carousel featuring two additional videos will appear, making it easy to discover more content from the same marketer
• On mobile devices, all videos that begin playing as they appear on the screen will have been downloaded in advance when the device was connected to WiFi — meaning this content will not consume data plans, even if you’re not connected to WiFi at the time of playback

This format isn’t intended for every video ad or Page post video on Facebook; it meets specific needs for certain marketers with certain objectives. We’ll continue to refine this new way for brands to tell stories on Facebook to ensure the best experience for people and marketers.

Have a look below to see this new feature in action.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which videos start playing in News Feed?

At this time, videos start playing from:

• Individuals (personal Facebook accounts or verified Pages)
• Some Pages, like those of entertainers and sports organizations
• Summit Entertainment’s content for Divergent

Is there a way to prevent these video ads from playing as they appear on screen?

The video ads will begin to play as you scroll through News Feed, but if you don’t want to watch, you can simply keep scrolling and the video will stop playing. Video ads that start playing when they appear on screen are pre-downloaded when you are on WiFi so they do not consume additional data.

When do videos play with sound?

Videos will not play with sound unless you turn the sound on. To do this, click or tap on the video.

When will all people start seeing videos from brands play as they appear on screen? When will all marketers be able to have videos play as they appear on screen?

This is an initial, limited test. We will let you know if/when the product becomes more widely available.

Will the pricing structure for these types of video ads be similar to the current Page post video offering?

We do not disclose pricing. The goal for this test feature is to be a premium advertising format on Facebook, intended to reach a large audience at specific times.

Eventually, will all promoted videos begin playing as they appear on screen?

This is an initial, limited test. We’ll determine future uses based on what we learn from this test.

How is this feature different from Page post video ads?

This premium feature is specifically designed for awareness campaigns that are meant to reach a large number of people to increase interest in a brand, product or content, in a short amount of time. Page post video ads can then come into play to sustain the message of this initial campaign over longer time periods, in more targeted ways.

Premium Video Ads on Facebook

In December, we started testing Premium Video Ads as a way for advertisers to drive branding objectives on Facebook. Starting today, we’re introducing these ads on Facebook with a select group of advertisers.

Premium Video Ads are designed for advertisers who want to reach a large audience with high-quality sight, sound and motion. Each 15-second video ad will start playing without sound as it appears on screen and stop if people scroll past. If people tap the video, it will expand into a full-screen view and sound will start. People can expect to begin seeing these new ads over the next few months.

Premium Video Ads are bought and measured in a way that’s similar to how advertisers already buy and measure ads on TV. The ads are bought based on Targeted Gross Rating Points to reach a specific audience over a short period of time. Delivery is measured by an independent third party, Nielsen Online Campaign Ratings (OCR), and advertisers only pay based on what Nielsen OCR measures.

To make sure Premium Video Ads are as good as other content people see in their News Feeds, we’re working with a company called Ace Metrix to help us review and assess how engaging the creative is for each ad — before it appears on Facebook. Ace Metrix will allow us to objectively measure the creative quality of the video in the Facebook environment, and highlight performance indicators for advertisers such as watchability, meaningfulness and emotional resonance. We’re taking this step in order to maintain high-quality ads on Facebook and help advertisers understand what’s working to maximize their return on investment.

With Premium Video Ads, brands now have another way of engaging people on Facebook with compelling video experiences. We’ll roll out Premium Video Ads slowly and monitor how people interact with them. This limited introduction allows us to concentrate our efforts on a smaller number of advertisers with high-quality campaigns to create the best possible experience on Facebook.

Thanks: https://www.facebook.com/business/news/Premium-Video-Ads-on-Facebook

The Digital Video Ad Serving Template (VAST)

What is VAST? (The Digital Video Ad Serving Template (VAST))

The digital video ad serving template (VAST) provides a standardized method for communicating the status of a video ad back to the ad servers in the case where the ad is served from a dynamically selected ad server. It is specifically designed for on-demand videoplayer where the ad response is parsed prior to play.

VAST is applicable to Linear Video Ads (such as "pre-rolls"), Non-linear Video Ads (such as "overlays") and Companion ads as defined in the IAB Digital Video Ad Format Guidelines.

History

Due to both strong industry adoption and an evolving marketplace, VAST has continued to be updated in order to stay relevant.

VAST 1.0

The initial version of VAST was released in September 2008.

VAST 2.0

Released in November 2009, this formalized support for multiple creatives, linear and non-linear ads, and companion ads.

VAST 3.0

The upcoming version of VAST aims to include extensive industry feedback. :  http://www.iab.net/media/file/VASTv3.0.pdf

Compliance Program

The IAB allows members who have self attested to compliance with the VAST guidelines to obtain and post a VAST Complianceseal.

This Video Ad Serving Template (“VAST”) includes a standard XML-based ad response for in-stream video as well as an XML Schema Definition (“XSD”) for developers. It is meant to accommodate the majority of current practices within the online digital video advertising business.

VAST is designed for any on-demand video player where the ad response is parsed prior to play. For example, use of this standard would be appropriate within an Adobe Flash player if the ad response was requested and parsed in ActionScript but would not be appropriate if contained directly within a SMIL playlist directly sent to the player. It may be possible to use this XML format for applications other than on-demand viewing such as live video streaming, downloadable video players, set-top boxes, etc, but those applications are explicitly beyond the scope of the current effort.

The goal of this specification is to be compatible with any video player framework that has the ability to be scriptable. It will be up to each Secondary Ad Server to develop its own implementation of the standard and it will be up to each publisher or vendor to implement the standard in their Primary Ad Server and their Video Players.

Compliance Program for IAB members:

The IAB VAST Compliance Seal program has been designed to integrate into compliant member sites with ease. The IAB suggests that compliant member sites post the compliance seal in their online media kit as well as in their print versions. Media buyers will be educated about the benefits of VAST and be encouraged to look for the seal. The compliance seal must be placed according to IAB standards and should not be altered in any way. 

VAST Compliance Defined

 

Publishers who are VAST compliant self attest that they have implemented the standard XML-based ad response for in-stream video ad serving, as well as the XML Schema Definition (“XSD”) for developers.

How to Obtain the Compliance Seal:

In order to obtain the seal, a member company should download and fax theIAB Compliance Seal Application. Once the form has been received and reviewed, and assuming compliance, an attachment with the seal will be received by the compliant IAB member-company’s site.

Reference : http://www.iab.net/wiki/index.php/VAST

Search engine optimization & Search engine marketing

Difference between  Search engine optimization and  Search engine marketing

Search engine optimization

SEO is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via "natural" ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results.

Search engine marketing

A form of Internet Marketing that seeks to promote websites by increasing their visibility in the Search Engine result pages.

Unique Browser & Unique visitor & Unique user & Unique Device & Unique Cookie

Unique Browser

An identified and unduplicated Cookied Browser that accesses Internet content or advertising during a measurement period. This definition requires taking account for the potentially inflationary impact of cookie deletion among certain of the cookied browsers that access Internet content.

Unique Cookie

A count of unique identifiers…that represents unduplicated instances of Internet activity (generally visits) to Internet content or advertising during a measurement period.

Unique Device

An unduplicated computing device that is used to access Internet content or advertising during a measurement period. A count of unduplicated devices necessarily accounts for multiple browser usage on an individual computer or other computing device.

Unique user

Unique individual or browser which has accessed a site or application and has been served unique content and/or ads such as e-mail, newsletters, interstitials or pop-under ads. Unique visitors can be identified by user registration, cookies, or third-party measurement like ComScore or Nielsen. Reported unique visitors should filter out bots. See iab.net for the audience reach measurement guidelines.

Unique visitor

Unique individual or browser which has accessed a site or application and has been served unique content and/or ads such as e-mail, newsletters, interstitials or pop-under ads. Unique visitors can be identified by user registration, cookies, or third-party measurement like ComScore or Nielsen. Reported unique visitors should filter out bots. See iab.net for the audience reach measurement guidelines.

Unique listeners/streamers : A metric specific to Digital Audio

The size of the audience for a given audio program, piece of content, or advertising message. Typically ‘listeners’ and ‘streamers’ are interchangeable.

NAI - (Network Advertising Initiative)

A cooperative group of network advertisers which has developed a set of privacy principles in conjunction with the Federal Trade Commission. The NAI provides consumers with explanations of Internet advertising practices and how they affect both consumers and the Internet. See networkadvertising.org for more information.

Video Ads

In-Banner Video Ads

Leverage the banner space to deliver a video experience as opposed to another static or rich media format. The format relies on the existence of display ad inventory on the page for its delivery

In-Page Video Ads

Delivered most often as a stand alone video ad and do not generally have other content associated with them. This format is typically home page or channel based and depends on real estate within the page dedicated for the video player.


In-Stream Video Ads


Played before, during or after the streaming video content that the consumer has requested. These ads cannot typically be stopped from being played (particularly with pre-roll). This format is frequently used to monetize the video content that the publisher is delivering. In-Stream ads can be played inside short or long form video and rely on video content for their delivery. There are four different types of video content where in-stream may play, UGC (User Generated Content/Video), Syndicated, Sourced and Journalistic.

In-Text Video Ads

Delivered from highlighted words and phrases within the text of web content. The ads are user activated and delivered only when a user chooses to move their mouse over a relevant word or phrase.

Cache busting

The process by which sites or servers serve content or HTML in such a manner as to minimize or prevent browsers or proxies from serving content from their cache. This forces the user or proxy to fetch a fresh copy for each request. Among other reasons, cache busting is used to provide a more accurate count of the number of requests from users.

What is Cache?

Memory used to temporarily store the most frequently requested content/files/pages in order to speed its delivery to the user. Caches can be local (i.e. on a browser) or on a network. In the case of local cache, most computers have both memory (RAM), and disk (hard drive) cache.

Behavioral targeting

Using previous online user activity (e.g., pages visited, content viewed, searches, clicks and purchases) to generate a segment which is used to match advertising creative to users (sometimes also called Behavioral Profiling, Interest-based Advertising, or online behavioral advertising). Behavioral targeting uses anonymous, non-PII data.

What is the Web crawler?

A web crawler (also known as an automatic indexer, bot, Web spider, Web robot) is a software program which visits Web pages in a methodical, automated manner.

This process is called Web crawling or spidering, and the resulting data is used for various purposes, including building indexes for search engines, validating that ads are being displayed in the appropriate context, and detecting malicious code on compromised web servers.

Many web crawlers will politely identify themselves via their user-agent string, which provides a reliable way of excluding a significant amount of non-human traffic from advertising metrics. The IAB (in conjunction with ABCe) maintains a list of known user-agent strings as the Spiders and Bots list. However, those web crawlers attempting to discover malicious code often must attempt to appear to be human traffic, which requires secondary, behavioral filtering to detect.

Most web crawlers will respect a file called robots.txt, hosted in the root of a web site. This file informs the web crawler which directories should and shouldn't be indexed, but does not enact any actual access restrictions.

Technically, a web crawler is a specific type of bot, or software agent.

Ad Serving Options

Ad Serving Options 

There are two methods by which the winning bidder can return ad markup to the exchange. In either case, the ad markup is either XHTML if the bidder is responding with a banner or VAST XML if responding with a VAST video.

1 Ad Served on the Win Notice

In this method, ad markup is returned to the exchange is via the win notice. In this case, the

response body of the win notice call (e.g., invoking the “nurl” attribute) contains the ad markup

and only the ad markup; there must be no other structured data in the response body. Using

this method, the “adm” attribute in the “bid” object must be omitted.

2 Ad Served in the Bid

In this method, ad markup is returned directly in the bid itself. This is accomplished via the

“adm” attribute in the “bid” object. If both the “adm” attribute and win notice return data, the

“adm” contents will take precedence.

3 Comparison of Ad Serving Approaches

Each of the ad serving methods has its own advantages that may be of varying importance to

either the exchange or the bidder.

            3.1 Ad Served in the Bid

                   1   Potential Concurrency: The exchange can choose to return that ad markup and
                        call the win notice concurrently, thereby improving user experience.

                   2  Reduced Risk of Forfeiture: A forfeit is the scenario in which a bidder wins, but

                       forfeits due to technical failure serving the ad. This can occur when serving on

                       the win notice (e.g., win notice call failure), but is mitigated by including the ad

                       in the bid.

               

            3.2 Ad Served on the Win Notice

1 Reduced Bandwidth Costs: Serving ad markup only upon winning can save large

                    amounts of bandwidth usage, the costs for which can mount up over high volumes.

2 Additional Bidder Flexibility: Bidders may typically know the ad they will serve

                           at the time of bid, but this provides an additional optional decision point after

                           the settlement price has been established.

Mobile Interstitial

Banners are small ads that when touched typically take the user to some form of full-screen in-app browsing experience.

Interstitials, on the other hand, immediately present rich HTML5 experiences or "web apps" at natural app transition points such as launch, video pre-roll or game level load. Web apps are in-app browsing experiences with a simple close button rather than any navigation bar—the content provides its own internal navigation scheme. Interstitial ads are typically more expensive and subject to impression constraints.

Ad trafficker faced below Interview Questions?

Dilemma 1: Why are my ads not getting more clicks and what can you do about it?

Ad traffickers often take on too much responsibility for the success of a campaign. Whether this because we are the first ones under scrutiny if something goes wrong, or because we have such granular control in our ad servers that we feel like we can change a campaigns destiny, the most important move in this situation is to establish boundaries around the functional areas of ad trafficking. It's crucial to identify all of the other variables which will impact an ads performance but are outside of your control.

For instance, as the trafficker we are responsible for scheduling the ad to deliver a number of impressions over periods of time, or flights to a particular part of the website.  As part of that function we will be monitoring each campaign to ensure that its delivery is on target. If a campaign is not delivering on target we should notify the account manager in order to make the necessary adjustments to impressions across the various flight dates or by adjusting other parts of the campaign's targeting such as geo-targeting or zone targeting. We would then be effectively using the tools that are part of the ad trafficker's function to help improve the campaigns performance. That said, there are many other variables beyond the function of the ad trafficker and I believe ultimately that these elements -- such as creative size, messaging, offer and "intrusiveness" in relation to the visitor of your website -- have a greater impact on an ad's effectiveness beyond meeting impression goals. The insight you can provide in relation to these so-called "creative and marketing variables" will certainly make you an invaluable part of the team. However, keep in mind that the team includes the account manager and client partner -- the people who ultimately control these "creative and marketing variables."

Dilemma 2: I thought I asked you to run this many impressions? Why didn't you do that?

This dilemma revolves around client frustration related to "What happened? This isn't what I asked you to do." What I have learned in working with people across various organizations and functional areas is that you need to document all requests and file them in an easily retrievable system for yourself, because as the ad trafficker, you are the last person in the process chain. This is more so if you are working in a fast-pace culture where processes are casual. Personally, I ask that all requests be made by email and I create folders to file and save every email related to each project.

As an ad-trafficker, you will be implementing and monitoring multiple campaigns. Some campaigns may only run for a month while others will be up and running for several months with many flight and creative changes. Over that time, you may have discussions with the account manager and the client about delivery rates, impression re-allocations and targeting and creative changes. Be aware that everyone else is simultaneously dealing with other business priorities. Decisions will have been made and changes committed to, but as a responsible ad trafficker, the task should fall on you to document all changes to a campaign. The next time someone says "What happened? This isn't what I asked you to do," you can respond "Yes it was. Here's that email discussion we had four months ago outlining your request and our discussion about it." You will find that once the client is reminded of what changes were made, any misunderstanding and frustration is quickly diffused.

Dilemma 3: Am I just an ad ops person? It feels like I'm the SEO/Project Manager/Analytics/Executive Assistant.

It can be overwhelming, but ad ops is usually the nexus of an organization. For example, if you are in online media, as the ad ops trafficker, you will be working with sales and their clients, editorial and web development teams and accounting. Many ad trafficking candidates are generalists, who have dabbled in web development, online marketing or sales and customer service.  Our generalist experience gives us a degree of technical facility coupled with the people skills to service clients (internal or external). As such, we are often the go to person for answers because we are involved in so many facets of an organization. Do yourself a favor and start to see yourself as an ad ops specialist. A good ad ops person is well versed in a number of tools and skills, but should not aspire to be the jack-of-all-trades for the entire organization. If there is an analytics guy, defer all analytics questions to him. If there is a project manager, defer all web development questions to her. Your role is a vitally important one: You ensure the provision of accurate ad-related information that will help sales sell, as well as maintain the quality and integrity of your websites ad infrastructure and provide exceptional client service.

Ref From below person
Derrick Hoang is an ad operations manager in Toronto, Canada.

Online Privacy Alliance (OPA) & Online Publishers' Association (OPA)

Online Privacy Alliance (OPA)

A group of corporations and associations who have come together to introduce and promote business-wide actions that create an environment of trust and foster the protection of individuals' privacy online. See privacyalliance.org for more information.

 Online Publishers' Association (OPA)

Trade association representing a segment of online publishers. See the Online-Publishers.org for more information.

What is Overlay? What is Overlay Ad?

An overlay is a media element that 'floats' above other content. This could be text floating over video, or an expanding banner ad expanding over page content.

Overlay Ad
A banner ad that appears in the bottom 20% of the video window. Click action initiates a Linear video spot or takes the user to a website. Sold on a CPM and CPC basis.

IP-based geo-targeting

IP-based geo-targeted advertising is delivered to a user’s geographic location as determined by his or her Internet Protocol (IP) address.

What is Internet service provider(IPS)?

An internet service provider (ISP) is a business or organization that provides internet access and related services.

Typically, internet access is provided by a class of ISPs called access providers who focus on provide a connection via dial-up, DSL, cable internet, FTH, or other, similar technologies. An access provider may choose different technologies based on whether thye focus more on home users or business clients.

Other types of ISPs include transit ISPs who provide internet access to smaller ISPs and hosting ISPs who provide internet access for servers.

What is ITV (Interactive Television)?

Any technology that allows for two-way communication between the audience and the television service provider (such as the broadcaster, cable operator, set-top box manufacturer).

What is Click-stream?

1) The electronic path a user takes while navigating from site to site, and from page to page within a site; 

2) A comprehensive body of data describing the sequence of activity between a user’s browser and any other Internet resource, such as a Web site or third party ad server.

Web beacon - What is beacon or What is Pixel?

A web beacon, also known as a web bug, 1 by 1 GIF, invisible GIF, and tracking pixel, is a tiny image referenced by a line of HTML or a block of JavaScript code embedded into a web site or third party ad server to track activity.

The image used is generally a single pixel that is delivered to the web browser with HTML instructions that keep it from affecting the web site layout. The web beacon will typically include user information like cookies on the HTTP headers, and web site information on the query string.

Web beacons are used to collect data for web site and ad delivery analytics, and also specific events such as a registration or conversion:

·           Ad Creative Pixel - A web beacon embedded in an ad tag which calls a web server for the purpose of tracking that a user has viewed a particular ad.

·           Conversion Pixel -  A web beacon that transmits to a third-party server that a user has successfully completed a process such as purchase or registration.

·           Piggyback Pixel – A web beacon that embeds additional web beacons not directly placed on the publisher page.

·          Secure Pixel - A web beacon that is delivered over HTTPS.

What is an Advertisement?

A commercial message targeted to an advertiser’s customer or prospect.

E-mail Bounce or Bounce in online advertisnment

An e-mail that cannot be delivered to the mailbox provider and is sent back to the e-mail Service Provider that sent it. A bounce is classified as either “hard” or “soft.” Hard bounces are the failed delivery of e-mail due to a permanent reason, such as a non-existent address. Soft bounces are the failed delivery of e-mail due to a temporary issue, such as a full inbox or an unavailable ISP server.

Ref #IAB

Demand side platform - What is DSP?

A demand side platform (DSP), also called buy side optimizer and buy side platform is a technology platform that provides centralized and aggregated media buying from multiple sources including ad exchanges, ad networks and sell side platforms, often leveraging real time bidding capabilities of these sources.

Ref : #IAB

RTB - What is RTB?

The RTB acronym indicates a real-time system for either bidding on or buying ad inventory. The initial RTB ecosystems evolved from the efforts of DSPs to create a more efficient exchange of inventory. Due to these roots, RTB ecosystems put significant emphasis on user information (demographic and behavioral data, for example), while discounting the situation information (the publisher and context).

Ref : #IAB

What is Click Fraud?

What is Click Fraud?

Click fraud is a type of internet crime that occurs in pay per click online advertising when a person, automated script, or computer program imitates a legitimate user of a web browser clicking on an ad, for the purpose of generating a charge per click without having actual interest in the target of the ad's link.

Ref : IAB

Contextual Targeting

Contextual meaning says “ relating to or determined by or in context ” , so when it's about contextual advertising it means the Ads shown as per the content of the webpage is contextual advertising . It is also a kind of targeted advertising in which Ads are always shown as per the contents present on a webpage , e.g. if a user will be on a sports website he will be shown Ads related to sports , if in any entertainments site he will be shown Ads of movies , music , etc. Contextual advertising is also called “In-Text” advertising or “In-Context” technology, In-Text advertising has a small difference i.e. it works when a specific word or keywords within the text of a web-page are matched with advertising and/or related information units.

To define in one go “Contextual targeting is a technique in which the web page is scanned  to show the relevant Ad as per the content on the page”.

Technically if you define “Contextual targeting is a technology which uses artificial intelligence to define and understand content rich websites and match them with targeted keywords so as to show up related Ad as per the content of the page”

The advertisements themselves are selected and served by automated systems based on the content displayed to the user.Contextual Advertising is in huge demand today as it brings good profit in return plus it's the latest online advertising technological advance and allows a company to place advertisements in major websites and portals that are carrying relevant content for their product or service which thereby bringing good response.

“Just in a case , think as a user when you are searching for some property to buy and searching number of real estates site and if some good property related Ads are shown to that user , there will be percentage of chance that user will show his interest on it as he is searching the related information only .”

CATEGORIES :

We have number of categories defined but as per IAB standards the list can be of 23 top level categories and around 200 categories in total (including sub categories).

23 Top – Level Categories

Within these we have number of sub categories which can be targeted too .

How does CONTEXTUAL TARGETING works ?

Contextual targeting generally works through a piece of code that you put on your web pages. The function of the code is to look through what is on the page and pull relevant ads from the company sponsoring the contextual targeting, which it then places on the site.

Contextual targeting is totally a dynamic approach . When a user request a page , the page will have a  JavaScript  code embedded on it which will make a request to an Ad server with some meta data information about the context of the page. This information could be number of options like the URL of the page, the page content , or to be specific the section of the site where the user is… All these information are passed not as a text but as keywords (Keywords chosen plays the game in the working of contextual targeting ) which will be more than enough for a Ad server to understand the context of the page but that highly depends on the Ad server potential. Every Ad server has it own targeting rules to be followed , for e.g. thekeyword passed by the javascript say “sports” will co relate with rule or condition set for sports category in the ad server and will than serve the content specific ad from the ad sever.

Say an Ad Network is having a contextual targeting of sports channel for a particular product say a badminton racket and apublisher say ESPN sports has embedded a code ( helps in contextual targeting ) in his page to show Ads related to it's content . So whenever a user who shows interest on badminton page of ESPN site , automatically the Ads related to the same context will be pulled up from the Ad Server to be shown on the page.

Screenshot Explanation :

Advantage of CONTEXTUAL TARGETING :

1. Greater engagement

2. Higher conversion

3. Content or Ads can be automatically matched to your content

4. More benefit for publishers as higher chances of clicking on the Ad

5. Relevant Ads as per the content don't annoy the user

6. Saves unnecessary impressions

Targeting - Types of targeting in online advertising

Targeting

Targeting is defined as selection of an object of attention or attack. Same is what it means in online advertising as we target our specific users (attack) as per the requirement of the campaign.

Targeting is about catching the right user at the right time at right place so that the output coming out of it should be maximum.

Targeted Advertisement – an advertisement that is shown only to users

exhibiting specific attributes or in a specific context or at a particular time

of day.

In online industry targeting is a big world and is divided into sub parts :

Contextual Targeting : Contextual targeting is a form of targeting that the ad servers use to target a user for showing ad units based on the context of the page they are viewing.

Semantic Targeting : A type of contextual targeting that also incorporates semantic techniques to understand page meaning and/or sentiment.

Behavioral Targeting : Behavioral targeting is a form of targeting that ad server and ad networks use for targeting users based on their online behavior.

Audience Targeting : A method that enables advertisers to show an ad specifically to visitors based on their shared behavioral, demographic, geographic and/or technographic attributes.  Audience targeting uses anonymous, non-PII data.

Geographic Targeting : The targeting of users as per zip code, area code, city, DMA, state, and/or country is called as geographic targeting .

Creative Retargeting : A method that enables advertisers to show an ad specifically to visitors that previously were exposed to or interacted with the advertisers‟ creative.

Site Retargeting : This targeting enables advertisers to show an ad specifically to previous site visitors.

Time-based Targeting : Time- based parting can be divided into parts : time parting – this parting enables the ad to appear on certain time in a day while another is Day parting – this parting enables the ad to appear on certain days of the week.

Demographic Targeting : The targeting of users on the basis of demographic information such as age, gender and income etc is called as demographic targeting .

Basic SEO Question/ SEO Interview Questions

Basic SEO Question

Q1: What’s your SEO experience?

When you are asked this question, if you are a fresher, you must answer the theoretical knowledge you have. Say that you know about keyword research, on page and off page SEO, link building best practices and so on from a theoretical point of view.

If you are experienced, tell them the projects you have worked on, some of the rankings you have achieved and the time you took to accomplish this. It also helps to talk about technical aspects of SEO you have handled as well.

Q2: What do you think about the latest algorithm update from Google?

You must follow industry blogs and be updated about the SEO trends. So when you are asked about the latest algorithm update, you should talk about your views on what kind of sites/ search queries got affected, how it compares to the previous update which was rolled out and so on.

Here is a scenario. Assume the latest update rolled out was the Penguin update and the one before that was panda. You could say that Penguin update was mostly targeted at low quality content and not about links as the Panda update was. It hit heavily on content farms and thin content pages.

Q3: Are you technically savvy?

Not many SEO interviews focus on your technical skills. But those who really know what SEO is all about will really put your technical skills to test.

Most of the time, you’ll have to dig deep into a site code to find issues. If you are not at all technically inclined, doing SEO might be quite challenging. No matter how many tools you purchase, you still need some basic level of technical knowledge to succeed in SEO.

Q4: Do you take on freelance projects?

There are two things that an interviewer can find out from the answer you give.

If you take freelance projects, it means you are a go getter and that you are comfortable with interacting with clients and doing business development. This is a huge plus for any employee.

On the other hand, freelance consultants have a tendency to get clients for themselves instead of the company if it’s a service company.

If you are going to work in a company and their policy states that you should not take on other projects, you shouldn’t do it. It’s not only unethical; you could also lose your job and face prosecution for violating employment agreement.

Even if your company allows you to take freelance project on the side, it’s suggested that you don’t do it. Instead channel that lead to your employer. Not only are you showing commitment in your current role, but you are also contributing to the growth of the company that is paying your bills.

Q5: Do you use any SEO tools?

If you have been in the SEO industry for some time, you’d have come across many tools. If you have used tools like SEOmoz, buzz stream, Wordtracker, Google keyword tool or any other tool, mention it.

The tools you used also gives the employer an overview of what kind of work and projects you have been associated with. If you say you are good at SEOmoz tools, then the employer will know that you are a professional because it’s a paid tool and not many amateurs can afford it.

Q6: Mention some SEO myths you know and what the actual facts are

This question helps the interviewer understand your knowledge of SEO. Instead of throwing some myths at you and trying to make you answer, this broad question will help them understand your depth of knowledge. Here are some myths and answers for reference

• Meta description is used for ranking- Meta descriptions are not used for rankings by Google and only used as a short snippet of text which users see along with search results
• Google will always use my meta-data- No. Google will not always use your meta title or meta description. Based on the query, Google may change your meta data to suit the searchers query
• More links the better- False. Even one high quality relevant editorial links can trump 1 million spam links you might get via blog comments, forum posting, site wide links and so on (Not to mention your chance to get a penalty)

Q7: Which industry blogs and sites do you follow?

This question is asked so that the interviewer can judge how well you are updated with the current SEO trends. Some of the good ones to follow are

1. Searchengineland.com
2. SEOmoz.org
3. SEObook.com
4. Seo-theory.com
5. Distilled.net

Q8: Do you do black hat SEO?

If you do black hat SEO, admit it. If you don’t, tell the interviewer why you do not follow such practices. If you are ready to stop blackhat and go completely white hat (which you should anyways), mention that as well.

Some of the reasons you do not want to use black hat are

1. Risk of getting penalty
2. Unethical
3. Not a long term strategy

Q9: Can you tell me the difference between on page and off page SEO?

On page SEO refers to all SEO activities done on the website that needs to be ranked. They include

1. Meta optimization
2. Content creation
3. Internal linking
4. Fixing technical issues like page discovery, duplicate content, implementing canonical tags and so on
5. Optimizing usage of keywords

Off page refers to any activity we do to get links to point to our site. These may include

1. Guest posting
2. Link outreach
3. Viral link building
4. Submission to niche sites
5. PR outreach

Q10: What are your thoughts on buying links, article marketing, article spinning, and directory submissions?

Buying links: Don’t do it. Not only does it violate Google guidelines, it’s also a costly method which will backfire when caught.

Article marketing: Submitting high quality articles to article directories to get traffic and some link juice is fine. However, with the latest Google updates, most article directories have been rendered useless from a link acquisition point of view. Submitting articles to 1000’s of article directories is not a good idea.

Article spinning: It’s better to syndicate content rather than creating spun content. Article spinning rarely works and most of the spun content can be easily detected by advanced algorithms Google employs.

Directory submissions: It was valuable maybe 4-5 years back. But now it’s worthless. Links from directories other than maybe dmoz.org, botw.com etc is worthless.

Good luck!