10:26 pm | 1 recommendation | 0 comments

Marketer's Guide to Semantic Web: Creating More Relevant Ads

| posted by Marta Strickland http://threeminds.organic.com/2008/10/marketers_guide_to_semantic_we.htm... Has your contextual advertising turned into a contextual nightmare? Maybe you became the butt end of the joke for many blogs creating not the kind of buzz around the brand you were hoping for. Or worse, maybe it has happened and you don't even know it. This is the problem with depending so completely on keywords. Sure, it seems safe to buy a word like "feet" until your ad comes up right next to a story about "severed feet" or a "feet fetish". To quote all the famous infomercials of our time... there has to be a better way!! What if there was a technology that could analyze what is really being said on the page? What if there was something that could analyze words surrounding keywords, could analyze sentiment, and could make sure that this ad placement was a prime opportunity to reach the target, not the front page of the Fail blog? Semantic technology will put our ad in the right place at the right time, delivering the right message to the right user. GIVING YOUR ADS BETTER TARGETING Peer39 is an advertising solution that employs natural language processing and artificial intelligence to determine word meaning, synonyms, topics, and even sentiment of content in realtime. Peer39 gives unique access to its network of publishers, and an approach to contextual advertising that is far smarter than what is currently out there. The proprietary technology called SemanticMatch™ operates in real-time and relies on patented algorithms to ensure relevant and "brand safe" ad delivery. The sentiment piece is what makes it really interesting, especially in the realm of user-generated content such as blogs. While you might not want to put your ad on a blog that rails against your customer service, you might want to put your ad on one that goes off on your competitor. GIVING YOUR PROGRAM BETTER OPTIMIZATION As an author of a blog, I can honestly say that I am not doing all that I should with metadata in order to market Organic. Constantly tagging articles with both meta keywords, descriptions, social bookmarking keywords, etc. can be overwhelming and for many content creators, is a guessing game. Yet, if I ask anyone in our SEO department how to optimize this blog, that would be one of the first things they'd tell me to do. In a time of mass content creation, a startup like TextDigger is going to find an easy audience. TextDigger uses semantic technology to read the content of a web site and auto-generate semantic tags. The benefit of semantic tags over normal tags is that they reflect concepts and meaning. A tag such as "cola" would be tied to the concept of "Coke" and "soft drink", making it even more findable. As more semantic search engines like Powerset and Hakia gain popularity, a semantic keyword is going to offer a more intelligent breakdown of search queries. The TextDigger search engine will ask and learn whether the common query using the word "view" is describing a picturesque scene or a political stance. FEEDING YOUR ADS WITH BETTER CONTENT So we are creating better ad placement and more optimized, findable content... but what about actually creating better ads. Peer39 offers some services akin to Yahoo! SmartAds where ads are assembled on the fly based on the context. But we live in a world where information evolves at an alarming rate, and (let's face it) consumers trust EACH OTHER far more than they trust advertising messaging. So what about pulling smarter content into an ad? What about turning the semantic technology around to analyzing the meaning of the message? That's where the Dapper MashupAds could come into play. Dapper MashupAds are dynamically generated ads that pull in content in real-time. Currently the examples on their site are still limited to the more common idea of pulling in from an advertiser or brand database. But, then you look at the free Dapper service. The Dapper service allows users to create a feed from any website to publish to any platform (RSS, Facebook, iGoogle, mobile). By combining Dapper and MashupAds, you can imagine a dynamically generated ad that scans Yelp and Flickr for the newest (positive) reviews and photos of your restaurant. The power of your brand message being promoted by your consumers can add an otherwise absent authenticity to your marketing message. TAPPING INTO THE SOCIAL GRAPH So semantic technology could do a lot to solve the current problems we have with contextual advertising, but what about behavioral targeting. What about turning semantic camera around and give a good look at the people viewing the page? I have yet to see is a semantic-based advertising technology that taps into the power of the social graph. Now we don't want to get too close to the scary world of Beacon, but I still think that by understanding the interests of the user and what connects them to the online world could be incredibly valuable. We don't need names and address, but imagine this scenario... You are a hotel thats major selling feature is its beautiful golf course. User A comes to the page and the semantic technology can tell that they have strong connections with numerous Facebook friends surrounding the interest "golf". User A is delivered an ad selling the "men's getaway weekend package". User B comes to the same page, but it is noted that while he has many strong friendships, his interest in "golf" is not connected to any. User B is delivered an ad selling the serenity and relaxation of a day of golf. Semantic technology is going to take online advertising to a whole new level of relevance. But what about solving that other big marketing problem? What about creating a more consistent and less time-consuming way to measure the success of social media? That will have to wait until tomorrow. Marta Strickland Editor, ThreeMinds http://threeminds.organic.com