It’s pretty safe to say that the advent of Google has transformed our lives. It has made it easy to access anything and everything. "Just Google it," has become a colloquial phase that we all know too well. The combination of today’s high speed technology and our "I needed it yesterday" mentality has made Google the search engine of the 21st century.
When it comes to advertising, Google has allowed more consumers to connect with the products and services they want in a matter of a few clicks, thanks to Google’s AdSense. AdSense’s contextualizing targeting capabilities has helped make it easier to place ads that tie directly into a users keyword search. This allows for easy ad placement in front of people who may be searching for your product or a similar product. What could be a daunting task for a media buyers, Google has made simple.
But that’s not without saying that it works perfectly. In his article, "The Best Examples of Google’s Worst Ads: When Contextual Advertising Goes Very Wrong," Nicholas Carlson, a writer for Business Insider, highlighting some of the worst (although horribly funny) contextual targeting. For example, Reuters.com posted the story "Over 250 sick after eating at Indiana Olive Garden." Right below the headline was a coupon for a Free Dinner for Two at Olive Garden.
As these examples show, AdSense doesn’t necessarily understand the concept of "the right place at the right time" and sometimes works against the purpose of the advertising. But you have to admit, they sure are funny.
Carolyn Klein, laughing in the art department.
EDITORS NOTE: Since the reference article now requires an Ad Age password to read. Here's a similar article with humorous contextual ad examples, in case you don't have an Ad Age account or if you just want to see more examples.
