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Contextual audience overview
When you engage users based on their actual browsing behaviors, you can anticipate how they might interact with your ads. Contextual audiences are formed by grouping users together based on their online activity. You determine these groups by indicating a list of relevant keywords and/or URLs and a timeframe. We add a user to the contextual audience when they visit sites that feature those keywords or URLs, browse them during the time period you select, and meet any other parameters that you specify during audience setup. You can target the contextual audience to advertise to that group of users across the open internet.
Review the What is a contextual audience? article for more information on contextual audiences and to review scenario-based examples.
You can create a contextual audience in the following ways:
You can also use a combination of these options; for example, you might add a list of keywords and upload a spreadsheet of URLs to create your contextual audience.
Contextual audience demo video
Refer to the following video to learn how to create a contextual audience by keyword or by URL, and individually or in bulk. You'll also discover how to manage an existing audience by editing, duplicating, or deleting it.
Create a contextual audience
Maximum keywords or URLs: There is no limit to the number of keywords or URLs that you can add to a single contextual audience. We recommend a maximum of 100 per audience.
Follow these steps to access the + Create Audience workflow:
Select the Audiences app from the homepage.
Click Contextual Audience from the Audiences page.
Select + Create Audience. This will open the Contextual Audience pop-up window.
By keyword, one by one
Follow these steps to create a contextual audience from keywords one by one:
Type a keyword into the Keywords field.
Select one or more relevant keywords from the list of similar keywords, or click Add to choose the keyword you typed.
Additional, optional keyword recommendations will appear. Browse the list and select one or more keywords, if desired.
Repeat steps 1-3 for each additional keyword.
Review each term in the Added Keywords section, and select the “X” icon next to any terms to remove them.
Click Next.
Type an audience name into the Audience Name field.
Choose a unique name to differentiate this contextual audience from others that you may create. For example, “Sports Enthusiasts Q3 2024”.
Enter a frequency into the Frequency field.
Choose a whole number between 1 and 99.
Select a date range from the Data Collection Period field.
Choose a date range of up to 30 days over the past six-month period.
Example: A 30-day data collection period will add a user to the contextual audience when your selected frequency (Step 8a) is met within that time period.
Click Apply.
Click Create Audience.
By keyword, in bulk
Follow these steps to create a contextual audience from keywords in bulk:
Use a spreadsheet application to prepare an XLSX or CSV file with a list of keywords.
List each keyword as its own, separate row in Column A of the spreadsheet.
Review the provided Sample File to follow the required formatting guidelines.
Select Upload File.
Choose the .XLSX or .CSV keyword file from your device.
Review each term in the Added Keywords section, and select the “X” icon next to any terms to remove them.
Click Next.
Type an audience name into the Audience Name field.
Choose a unique name to differentiate this contextual audience from others that you may create. For example, “Sports Enthusiasts Q3 2024”.
Enter a frequency into the Frequency field.
Choose a whole number between 1 and 99.
Refer to “Example: Frequency” to learn how frequency works for contextual audiences.
Select a date range from the Data Collection Period field.
Choose a date range of up to 30 days over the past six-month period.
Example: A 30-day data collection period will add a user to the contextual audience when your selected frequency (Step 7a) is met within that time period.
Click Apply.
Click Create Audience.
By URL, one by one
Follow these steps to create a contextual audience from URLs one by one:
Select the By URL tab.
Type a URL into the URL field.
Select Add.
A preview of the URL will appear. Confirm it matches the URL you intended to enter.
Repeat steps 1-4 for each additional URL.
Note that if you enter a parent URL (e.g., https://www.IQM.com), we will consider and include all child URLs (e.g., https://iqm.com/company/about-us).
Review each term in the Added URLs section, and select the “X” icon next to any URLs to remove them.
Click Next.
Type an audience name into the Audience Name field.
Choose a unique name to differentiate this contextual audience from others that you may create. For example, “Sports Enthusiasts Q3 2024”.
Enter a frequency into the Frequency field.
Choose a whole number between 1 and 99.
Refer to “Example: Frequency” to learn how frequency works for contextual audiences.
Select a date range from the Data Collection Period field.
Choose a date range of up to 30 days over the past six-month period.
Example: A 30-day data collection period will add a user to the contextual audience when your selected frequency (Step 9a) is met within that time period.
Select Apply.
Click Create Audience.
By URL, in bulk
Follow these steps to create a contextual audience from URLs in bulk:
Select the By URL tab.
Use a spreadsheet application to prepare an .XLSX or .CSV file with a list of URLs.
List each URL as its own, separate row in Column A of the spreadsheet.
Review the provided Sample File to follow the required formatting guidelines.
Note that if you enter a parent URL (e.g., https://www.IQM.com), we will consider and include all child URLs (e.g., https://iqm.com/company/about-us).
Select Upload File.
Choose the .XLSX or .CSV URL file from your device.
Review each term in the Added URLs section, and select the “X” icon next to any URLs to remove them.
Click Next.
Type an audience name into the Audience Name field.
Choose a unique name to differentiate this contextual audience from others that you may create. For example, “Sports Enthusiasts Q3 2024”.
Enter a frequency into the Frequency field.
Choose a whole number between 1 and 99.
Refer to “Example: Frequency” to learn how frequency works for contextual audiences.
Select a date range from the Data Collection Period field.
Choose a date range of up to 30 days over the past six-month period.
Example: A 30-day data collection period will add a user to the contextual audience when your selected frequency (Step 8a) is met within that time period.
Select Apply.
Click Create Audience.
Example: Frequency
A frequency of “5” will add a user to the contextual audience when all three of these conditions are met:
The user visited any number of sites that featured any combination of your keywords.
The user encountered any combination of those keywords five times.
The user's browsing activity took place during the time period you defined.
Consider a healthcare advertiser who chose "asthma" and "wheezing" as their keywords, and "Last 30 days" as their timeframe. We will add a user to your contextual audience whether they visited one site containing the word "asthma" five times during the last 30 days; or visited two sites containing the keyword "asthma" and three sites containing the keyword "wheezing" during the last 30 days, for example.
Refer to the What is a contextual audience? article for more information on how frequency is calculated for contextual audiences.
Manage a contextual audience
Use the Contextual Audience page to search, sort, or filter your existing contextual audiences. You can also use this page to edit, duplicate, or delete them.
Follow these steps to access the Contextual Audience page:
Select the Audiences app from the homepage.
Click Contextual Audience from the Audiences page.
Edit a contextual audience
Follow these steps to edit a contextual audience from the Contextual Audience page:
Select the checkbox next to the audience you want to edit.
Click Edit Audience.
Select Next.
Edit the contents of the Audience Name field.
Select Save.
Edits to fields other than the Audience Name field are not supported at this time. Duplicate an existing audience to make adjustments to keywords, URLs, and other fields.
Duplicate a contextual audience
Follow these steps to duplicate a contextual audience from the Contextual Audience page:
Select the checkbox next to the audience you want to duplicate.
Click Duplicate Audience.
Follow the guidelines listed in “Create a contextual audience” to add or remove keywords or URLs.
Select Next.
Follow the guidelines listed in “Create a contextual audience” to update the Audience Name, Frequency, or Data Collection Period fields, as needed.
Choose a unique audience name that differs from the one you duplicated. This will help you differentiate between them.
Select Create Audience.
Delete a contextual audience
Follow these steps to delete a contextual audience from the Contextual Audience page:
Select the checkbox next to the audience you want to delete.
Click Delete.