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Contextual advertising (also called contextual targeting) is a form of targeted advertising for advertisements appearing on websites or other digital platforms, such as content displayed in mobile browsers. Contextual targeting involves the use of linguistic factors to control the placement of advertising material. The advertisements are selected and delivered by automated systems, taking into consideration the context of a user's search or browsing behaviour.^[1] As advertisers and marketers increasingly prioritise brand safety and suitability, contextual advertising has emerged as a crucial aspect in safeguarding the reputation and value of a brand.^[2]

A contextual advertising system scans the content of a website for specific keywords and phrases and then returns advertisements to the webpage based on those keywords.^[3] The advertisements may be displayed on the webpage as pop-up ads. For instance, if a user is browsing a sports-related website that uses contextual advertising, the user may see advertisements for companies related to sports, such as sellers of sports memorabilia or tickets. Contextual advertising is also used by search engines to display advertisements on their search results pages based on the keywords in the user's query.

Contextual advertising is a form of targeted advertising in which the content of an ad is in direct correlation to the content of the web page the user is viewing. An example of contextual advertising is an ad offering a special price on a flight to Italy appearing on a website concerning traveling in Europe. Contextual advertising is also called "In-Text" advertising or "In-Context" technology.^{[citation needed]}

Apart from that, when a visitor does not click on an ad in the go through time (the minimum time a user must click on the ad), the ad is automatically changed to the next relevant ad, with the option below of going back to the previous ad.

Contextual ads are commonly perceived as less irritating than traditional advertising. That is why it influences users more effectively. It shows users’ areas of interest, thus increasing the chance of receiving a response.^[4]

Google AdSense was the first major contextual advertising network.^{[citation needed]} It works by providing webmasters with JavaScript code that, when inserted into webpages, displays relevant advertisements from the Google inventory of advertisers. The relevance is calculated by a separate Googlebot that indexes the content of a webpage. Recent technology/service providers have emerged with more sophisticated systems that use language-independent proximity pattern matching algorithms to increase matching accuracy.^[5]

Media.net is the other major contextual ad network competing with Google AdSense.^[6][7]

• Ferguson, Renee Boucher. "A Battle Is Brewing Over Online Behavioral Advertising". www.eweek.com. Retrieved 2008-10-20.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
• Ostrow, Adam (19 June 2008). "When Contextual Advertising Goes Horribly Wrong - Mashable". mashable.com. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
• "FTC Staff Proposes Online Behavioral Advertising Privacy Principles". www.ftc.gov. 20 December 2007. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
• Kenny, D.; Marshall, J. (November–December 2000). "Contextual Marketing: The Real Business of the Internet". Harvard Business Review. 78 (6): 119–125. PMID 11184966. Archived from the original on 2014-10-13. Retrieved 2008-07-22.
• Revesencio, Jonha (2015-04-09). "CRM Retargeting: How It Works and Everything You Need to Know Before Using It - Huffington Post". huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2015-04-09.