The common misconceptions around contextual versus targeted advertising

Contextual ads > targeted ads”? Often this approach refers to one Dutch broadcaster’s (misinterpreted) story and mistaken assumptions that “contextual” means “no data”. Now for the opposite story from Belgium: the news website Tweakers tried an allegedly “tracking-free” contextual ad system since May 2022 but announced yesterday it was not economically viable and would be abandoned.

“No data”? “Tracking-free”?

In reality, even contextual advertising involves reporting and anti-fraud measures, often with frequency capping too. These measures all rely on what the European Data Protection Board would now consider (based on its new ePrivacy guidelines) information “stored” or to which the provider “gains access” – and thus requiring consent if you don’t think that an Art. 5(3) ePrivacy Directive consent exemption applies (see below re in-depth critical assessments of that). Whether they involve personal data is another matter, but you often see allegations that this is personal data in all cases – in my view, a hasty conclusion.

Based on the Tweakers announcement of May 2022, they seem to have aimed for “limited data”, as they explicitly say that frequency capping and interest-based advertising was purely optional. Reporting was foreseen, though, so there must have been some attribution, and I assume anti-fraud checks were still present.
Basically, “tracking-free” might not have been entirely true, but they did what they could.

Tweakers says that one issue they faced is that advertisers found it problematic that they could not “measure how their banners are performing on their own and create their own reports”. In other words, dependency on Tweakers/Adhese caused issues for advertisers.
[It’s not hard to see why – “I pay you to display an ad; you tell me you have displayed it, but I cannot verify that on my own”. I always seek some form of auditing or verification rights when negotiating contracts on behalf of a client]

“This doesn’t disprove contextual

Of course not, but it is a very important example to take into account. Tweakers tried, but failed. Beyond the reporting issues and workflow problems, I still wonder whether ad-blockers continued to play a role (in the May 2022 announcement they explicitly asked users to include an ad-blocker exception for Tweakers).

What lessons can you draw from this?

Contextual isn’t necessarily better (nor is it consent-free, if you believe the EDPB), so you need to check on your own what works and doesn’t in your case.

Tweakers announcements:
– Feb 2024 (Dutch – DeepL translation attached): https://lnkd.in/eTNgwFM2
– May 2022 (Dutch): https://lnkd.in/eUbBK6yj

For a critical look at the issue of consent & ads (ePrivacy + GDPR / data protection): https://lnkd.in/erjuFEZq

Thanks Herman Maes for flagging the news!