Online ad firm Vibrant was able to build a healthy ad business by delivering contextually relevant text ads when users mouse over specific words within news articles and other content on the Web. Now, the company wants to bring the same contextual relevance to display ads.
Vibrant has rolled out VIA Dynamic, a display ad product that takes into account the subject matter of a particular Web page when deciding which creative placement to serve at a given moment. According to Vibrant, VIA Dynamic can instantly assess a Web page’s content using a combination of semantic analysis, word frequency, demographic information and other factors—and it can then serve whatever creative placement is deemed most appropriate.
Microsoft, for example, has been testing VIA Dynamic to promote its search engine Bing. On a Web page where American Idol is being discussed, Vibrant would serve a Bing ad with the phrase “American Idol” in a search box. Meanwhile, on a page where Toy Story 3 is the main topic, a similar ad would be served, only with “Toy Story 3” featured in the Bing search box.
VIA Dynamic ads can also automatically change their color and font to match the look of the page they appear on.
Vibrant has been beta testing VIA Dynamic ads and claims advertisers are enjoying click-through rates that are five times the industry average. Plans are in the works to introduce a suite of similar contextually driven display units. “We’ve developed a platform that delivers unparalleled understanding of the Web, and goes further, serving creative that understands the context of the page and changes dynamically,” said Vibrant CEO Doug Stevenson.
