Contextual Ad Segments for Spring 2021
Contextual video ad targeting works successfully because it allows advertisers to scale their ad delivery across multiple content verticals. Instead of surrendering to the confines of specific content in a single niche vertical, a contextual video ad can reach millions of more viewers by targeting to a video, not a URL.
Think of a sneaker brand that wants their video ad to run on online videos about jogging. The advertiser has previously been limited to setting up individual deals with endemic niche jogging sites, broader health and fitness sites, or buying health and fitness sections of websites with dedicated URL classification pages. The endemic-only approach inhibits scale, especially when it comes to searching for coveted video inventory.
The broader health and fitness sites or sections most likely have multidimensional fitness and health coverage, where a sneaker ad can become a wasted impression on a diet or meditation video. This is because even within categorical classification, web content is dynamic. Similarly, a music site may have a video about a running playlist that would previously be excluded due to its publisher classification within the music category.
Advertisers now have the ability to target the video content completely independently of the website classification. The result is more accurate alignment, and a world of incremental reach.
JW Player analyzed millions of video content and ad requests to find the top segments for this Spring 2021. With a contextual video ad strategy, it’s possible to reach more targeted viewers at scale. Here are some top findings. To place your ad across targeted video, reach out to deals@jwplayer.com for more information.
Spring 2021 Contextual Ad Segments & Volume
Using JW Player’s ad technology along with the world’s leading contextual ad buyers, we’ve compiled the top U.S. ad requests for particular spring seasonal categories. We’re able to apply segmentation that identifies the content of videos served across the JW Player network based on: classification, transcription and semantics data, and image recognition data.
Here’s what we found that’s trending this spring 2021 season. Each segment represents a large opportunity to buy targeted contextual video ads.
Tax Season
Though tax season occurs annually and advertising regularly peaks in the final weeks of the season (mid-April), the US government’s decision to extend the filing season to Monday, May 17 presents advertisers extra opportunity to reach more viewers. Across JW Player videos, we’ve seen a 41% increase in ad plays in the business & finance sector—an increase due in part to the global economic crisis. Tax season and related financial ads are certain to perform well over the coming months as financial topics remain top-of-mind for US audiences.
Projected US Monthly Ad Requests, Tax Season: 120 Million
Contact JW Player deals@jwplayer.com to target your tax season video ads
Mother’s & Fathers Day
Two of the biggest holidays in the spring season are Mother’s Day (Sunday, May 9) and Father’s Day (Sunday, June 20). With a combined reach of 300 million in US ad requests alone, there’s an incredible opportunity for ad buyers to reach new consumers.
For Mother’s Day, besides the major gift-related keywords such as flowers, dining gift cards, clothing, jewelry, spas, electronics, and housewares, by using contextual video ad targeting, ad buyers can target beyond niche women’s lifestyle sites to a greater audience.
For Father’s Day, keywords such as gift cards, photography, gardening, and beer can be targeted with contextual ads via JW Player beyond standard men’s lifestyle websites.
Projected US Monthly Ad Requests, Mother’s Day: 150 Million
Projected US Monthly Ad Requests, Father’s Day: 150 Million
Contact JW Player deals@jwplayer.com to target your Mother’s Day & Father’s Day video ads
Home, Garden, & Pets
Springtime is traditionally a big season for home improvement, gardening, and outdoor living. Across JW Player’s millions of videos, pet-related content saw a 17% increase in video plays during 2020, with a 24% increase in ad plays. Due to the pandemic requiring more people to stay home and stay online, US consumers have watched more and more videos related to home, garden, and pets—providing ad buyers a huge opportunity to reach new viewers.
Because many content publishers pivoted to home & garden-related content during the pandemic, many of these new sites are not classified properly, so with contextual video ad targeting, ad buyers have the unique opportunity to reach even more consumers than traditional buyers.
Projected US Monthly Ad Requests: 475 Million
Contact JW Player deals@jwplayer.com to target your home lifestyle video ads
Travel & Lifestyle
Traditionally, most travel advertising occurs at the end of the year and in the springtime months of May, June, and July—when American travelers are planning and booking summer vacations. While the pandemic did have a severe impact on travel & tourism advertising, with the gradual opening up of travel again and the new CDC guidelines for travelers in the U.S., there’s a growing opportunity to reach a travel, tourism, and leisure market.
Consumer interest in travel may have decreased in online page views for travel & tourism publishers, but brands are finding creative contextual ways to target the same market successfully. By targeting the intent of potential consumers across a variety of sites, advertisers can reach millions of consumers interested in travel & lifestyle topics even when niche travel & lifestyle website traffic may be down. Contextual video ad segments related to beach body prep, travel and road trips, and style & beauty are each unique segments worth targeting this spring due to their potential reach.
Projected US Monthly Ad Requests, Beach Body Prep: 134 Million
Projected US Monthly Ad Requests, Travel & Road Trips: 75 Million
Projected US Monthly Ad Requests, Style & Beauty: 65 Million
Contact JW Player deals@jwplayer.com to target your travel lifestyle video ads
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JW Player works across 12,000 unique publishing sites and has over 10B monthly plays. Every one of these videos is analyzed and classified on dozens of data points only available to JW Player. The result is a level of ad targeting for video that’s not available with previous page-level based solutions—and at a scale that no-one else can match.