Contextual advertising helps you reach people based on the content they’re actively reading, not who they are or what cookies say about them. Propensity analyzes the text content on each webpage and matches your ads to pages that align with the context you define using in-context and out-of-context phrases.
Before You Get Started
Installing the Contact Website Tracker unlocks the full value of contextual targeting. It identifies which contacts visit your site after seeing your ads so sales can act on verified intent. We strongly recommend setting this up before launching your first campaign.
Follow these steps to create, validate, and launch a contextual campaign.
Create a New Campaign
Go to the Campaigns tab
Click New Campaign
Choose Contextual Campaign as your campaign type
Name your campaign and complete the standard details
Once saved, you’ll move into the familiar campaign setup flow.
Choose Your Plays
On the Plays step, choose the ad formats you want to run as part of your contextual campaign. These channels are available for contextual:
Propensity Display Network Contextual Ad
Propensity Display Network Contextual HTML5 Ad
Propensity Display Network Contextual Video Ad
These ad formats behave like normal Propensity Display Network plays. The major difference is how the audience is targeted, which you will set next.
Configure Your Contextual Targeting (Play Set Up)
After selecting your plays:
Go to the Playbook tab (still under Campaigns)
Find your contextual play and click View under Play Set Up
This opens the dedicated setup screen for contextual targeting.
In Play Set Up, you’ll configure:
Language Options
In-Context Phrases (max 20)
Out-of-Context Phrases (max 20)
Creative assets (display, HTML5, video)
Any additional play-specific settings
Choose Language Options
Select the language you want your ads to target.
Your language selection influences:
Phrase validation
Suggested keywords
The sample URLs you’ll receive
This ensures your contextual results reflect both relevant content and the target language.
Add Your Contextual Phrases
Your contextual targeting uses two inputs:
In-Context Phrases
These define the types of content where you want your ads to appear. You can add up to 20 in-context phrases, but you will rarely need that many. We suggest starting with 3–5 strong phrases, then refine later.
Types of useful in-context phrases:
Product or category terms
Adjacent interests
Pain points your product solves
Industry topics your audience researches
Competitive or alternative solutions
Out-of-Context Phrases
These tell Propensity what to avoid. These help prevent mismatches and keep your placements on-brand.
Use them to exclude:
Multiple meanings
Unrelated industries
Sensitive or off-brand contexts
You can add up to 20 out-of-context phrases, but most users never need to approach the max limit. A smaller, well-chosen list creates a clearer signal, and you can refine it through validation.
Validate Your Phrases
After adding your in-context and out-of-context phrases, click Validate to analyze your inputs.
Validation helps confirm that your contextual targeting is aligned with the content you want your ads to appear alongside.
Each validation will show sample URLs representing pages that match your targeting. This gives you a preview of how accurately your phrases map to real content across the web.
Important: Every time you add, remove, or adjust a phrase, you must click Validate again.
How to Review Validation Results
Use the validation output to sanity-check your targeting:
Review sample URLs to confirm the content matches your intent
Look for pages that may be off-topic, sensitive, or irrelevant
Adjust your in-context or out-of-context phrases if needed
URLs are provided for review and refinement, not as suggested phrases to add automatically.
Launch Your Campaign
Once your contextual environment looks right:
Review your final in-context and out-of-context lists
Review sample URLs one more time
Upload or confirm your creative assets
Complete any remaining setup steps
Then launch your campaign.
Your ads will begin appearing on pages where the content matches the context you defined.
Understanding Contextual Reporting
Contextual reporting includes two key insights:
Recent URLs
A list of the last 10 URLs where your ads were placed.
Use these to confirm:
Your context is still correct
Pages are relevant and brand-safe
No unexpected meanings are creeping in
Domain reporting
A breakdown of every domain where ads served, including:
Impressions
Clicks
Use domain-level reporting to:
Spot irrelevant patterns
Identify high-value contexts
Detect when a phrase needs tightening or broadening
This reporting is meant to help you refine, not overwhelm you. Most users only need periodic spot checks.
Related documentation
Best Practices for Contextual Targeting in Propensity
Configuring Keyword Contextual Targeting in Propensity Display Network Contextual Display
Creating a TikTok Contextual Campaign with Hashtag Targeting