Based on a recent study conducted by Advertiser Perceptions for publisher, MediaPost, within a year, contextual targeting, which is based on the context of the media consumers are using, is expected to overtake behavioral targeting, which is based on tracking people’s identities and activities through their usage of digital media and devices.
The study was conducted in response to a number of shifts in the industry, including Google’s deprecation of browser cookies, Apple’s adoption of a more stringent opt-in for tracking iOS users, and a focus on consumer privacy, personal data sovereignty, regulation, and industry ethics regarding the use and exploitation of consumer data.
While behavioral targeting is now the most popular way among advertising executives (45% vs. 38% for contextual targeting and 17% for “other” forms of targeting), they expect contextual to overtake behavioral targeting in a year.
The percentages of advertisers and ad agency executives who responded to this study were nearly identical, indicating that they are in lockstep on the developments.
