“Data-Driven Thinking” is a column written by members of the media community and containing fresh ideas on the digital revolution in media.

Today’s column is written by Amiad Solomon, CEO at Peer39.

In a world where information changes constantly, it can be a steep challenge just to keep up with the latest news and trends. One day, content about a certain person or place can be an ideal advertising environment for a brand, and the next it can be damaging. A single event can completely change the public perception of a particular topic. A recent example is the Toyota recall. In this instance, the sentiment of the content associated with the brand was radically altered, and suddenly took on negative associations.

The advantage of dynamic sentiment analysis is particularly evident in cases like these. Instead of targeting based on keywords or cookies, semantics focuses on the real-time meaning of text. The technology takes into consideration the varying sentiments associated with evolving content. Dedicated, complex machinery crawls the web, and analyzes what is being published. The technology can understand significant changes in the global discussion about a certain topic or person, and uses this knowledge to guide ad servers to supply the most relevant and appropriate ads, generating optimal performance for an ad campaign.

In the example of the recent Toyota recall, semantic targeting technologies would recognize Toyota-related content as negative, as opposed to traditional targeting technologies that have continued to serve ads without the insight as to what the content is really about. Traditional targeting systems cannot discern between articles about how a Prius is dangerous to drive vs. how a Prius is kind to the environment. The sentiment distinction in the case of negative content enables brands to choose whether to target to or against such content, helping brands that want to avoid it, and showcasing those that want to appear alongside it.

Next generation ad targeting platforms understand the actual meaning of content, including the connections and associations that give it context, so that ads are only served when they are relevant to the adjacent content. Every impression becomes an informed impression, and brands see a significant boost in consumer engagement with their ads.

Semantic systems understand the meaning and sentiment of the page.  For brands, these instant capabilities can mean the difference between ultimate brand safety and being at risk.

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