Adam Cahill’s ClickZ article Quality Is Job One shows how a good brand can end up in a bad neighborhood by using demand-side platforms (DSPs) to serve ads to audience regardless of site context.
These DSPs have been criticized for being opaque. It’s been difficult to control where your ads will be placed and to know where your ads are placed. But now, DSPs are becoming more transparent and the illumination is scary. According to Mr. Cahill:
“But transparency has a downside I didn’t anticipate: once you see exactly what you’re buying, you might long for the days of buying blind. It’s a big Internet, and there’s a lot of junk out there.”
Context does matter. Your brand will be associated to the context in which your ads are shown. Cahill says it well:
“To come across an ad from a ‘real’ brand on some of these sites would be completely disconsonant, like finding a Tiffany’s on Skid Row.”
The debate continues on whether to serve ads to the right audience regardless of context versus serving ads in the right context regardless of audience. There should be no debate. To be truly a truly effective advertiser you need both the right audience and the right context (not to mention the right product, the right price, etc.).