Contextual campaigns perform best when your phrases, both in-context and out-of-context, create a clear signal about the content you want to appear alongside. Below are practical guidelines to help you choose the right phrases and refine your contextual strategy.
Start with a small, focused list (3-5 phrases)
You do not need large keyword lists. A strong context comes from a few well-chosen phrases.
Why:
Our system expands your inputs into related topics
Too many phrases weaken the signal
A small list is easier to refine during validation
Use the max of 20 phrases per field only if tightening a complicated topic.
Choose phrases based on what your audience is reading
Think about the user’s mindset as they browse content.
Ask:
What topics does my audience research before buying?
What problems are they trying to solve?
What related subjects are they interested in?
Examples:
An EV brand might target pages about “electric cars,” “EV charging,” or “clean energy.”
A B2B SaaS company might target “workflow automation,” “marketing ops,” or “customer data.”
Use out-of-context phrases to avoid false matches
Out-of-context phrases help prevent unwanted meanings.
Use them when:
A word has multiple meanings
Content appears relevant but is not
There are sensitive or off-brand associations
Examples:
If targeting “java” for coffee, you would exclude “programming language.”
If targeting “Catalina” for travel, exclude “macOS.”
Review sample URLs after each validation
The URL preview is your early warning system.
Use it to check:
Are pages relevant to your audience?
Are you seeing any off-topic themes?
Are new trends or news topics skewing results?
If URLs start drifting:
Add more precise in-context phrases
Add an out-of-context phrase to block unwanted topics
Validate again
Your selected countries influence context
Country selection is not just geo-targeting.
It influences:
Which webpages are prioritized
How phrases are matched
Which URLs appear in validation
If your URLs look globally irrelevant, tighten your geography.
Example:
If you input “customer engagement” without selecting US or Canada, you may see websites from other regions. Choosing countries automatically aligns the context with the markets you care about.
Continually optimize based on reporting
Contextual performance evolves with the internet. New content appears every day. Events happen. Trends shift.
Use reporting to monitor:
The last 10 URLs your ads ran on
Domain performance (impressions and clicks)
Update your context mid-flight when:
URL examples drift into unrelated topics
New meanings appear
Better-performing themes emerge
A simple Validate-Review-Refine cycle keeps your context accurate.
Build multiple contexts if your audience has multiple interests
Contextual campaigns aren’t about matching exact keywords. They are about building environments.
Examples:
A brand like Patagonia might build several contextual themes:
“Hiking trails”
“Camping gear”
“Snowboarding equipment”
Each attracts audiences with adjacent interests that align to the same product.
Use broad vs. specific phrases strategically
Broad phrases increase scale. Specific phrases improve precision.
Examples:
“Workout equipment” is broader than “resistance bands.”
“Electric vehicles” is broader than “Tesla charging cable.”
If scale is too small → broaden.
If URLs feel messy → narrow.
Avoid extremely generic out-of-context phrases
Overly broad exclusions (e.g., “windows,” “software,” “mobile,” “news”) can remove massive amounts of inventory.
Out-of-context phrases should be:
Specific
Contextually meaningful
Directly related to the thing you want to avoid
Example:
Use “programming language,” not “programming.”
Think of contextual targeting as brand alignment, not performance clicks
Users reading high-intent content are often deeply engaged. They may not click immediately.
Contextual ads excel at:
Brand recall
View-through conversions
Buying-stage reinforcement
If clicks are your KPI, broaden your context and monitor domains.
Archived copy
How Contextual Targeting Works in Propensity
When you add phrases and click Validate, we analyze your input and return:
Suggested contextual phrases related to your initial terms
Relevant keywords that help refine your context
Sample URLs that represent the kinds of pages where your ads may appear
You review the results, add or remove any phrase or keywords, and click Validate again to refresh the suggestions.
💡Every time you make an update to phrases, you must re-validate.
Your selected countries also influence validation. Once you choose countries, we automatically prioritize results from pages accessed by users in those locations, ensuring your contextual matches make sense geographically as well as contextually.
In-Context vs. Out-of-Context Phrases
In-Context Phrases
These phrases describe the topics, products, categories, or themes that your ideal audience is reading about. They tell our system: “Place my ads on pages with this kind of content.”
Use in-context phrases when you want to appear on pages about:
Your product/category
Complementary interests
Problems you solve
Adjacent research topics
Out-of-Context Phrases
These phrases tell the system which contexts to avoid. They tell the system:
“Avoid pages with this type of content, even if it looks related.”
They help prevent your ads from showing up on pages that are:
Technically related by language, but not relevant
Too broad or off-topic
Sensitive or inappropriate for your message