Should You Consider In-Text Advertising

In-text advertising is a newer form of pay per click advertising. This method provides a link to an advertisement through targeted keywords within an article, blog post or other piece of content. Initially the ad is hidden from view. Once a user places their mouse over the keyword the advertisement will appear and can be clicked to visit the advertiser’s landing page. In-text keywords are generally noted with double underlines so users can easily differentiate these from standard hyperlinks.

In-text advertising does have some benefits over more traditional pay per click methods. Since the keywords are part of an article or other piece of content, algorithms are used on the full text to help determine the most relevant advertisement. This process provides results that are more accurate and therefore more likely to generate leads. Also, since the in-text advertisement remains hidden until accessed you are typically able to present bigger advertisements with additional elements such as your business logo.

Although the cost structure is similar to other pay per click campaigns you may find your advertising dollar stretches a bit farther with in-text advertising. Users can hover over the keywords and expose your advertisement. If they do not actually click on your ad you will not insure a charge. In this scenario you are presenting your brand to a highly targeted market at no cost.

Despite its strong advantages, in-text advertisement has its weakness. At times the algorithms that match advertisements to keywords have difficulty understanding the context of the content. For example, should the keyword “windows” display a site that sells replacement windows or information on purchasing the Microsoft Windows operating system.

There is some controversy over whether sponsored keywords within an article hurt the credibility of content. For this reason many large, mainstream websites refuse to allow in-text advertising. Ensure that the websites your target audience visits frequently allows in-text advertisements or your campaign may never reach your intended market.

In-text advertising can be a great option in the right scenario so consider your advantages carefully.