Thursday, February 26, 2009

They're everywhere, they're everywhere!

I was cruising through http://comics.com today (thanks, Schelly, for the idea!) - using genealogy, family tree, ancestry, ancestors, family history, etc. as the keywords and laughing at the occasional "good one." Then I noticed - there are Ancestry.com ads on the web page - in three places (top, right side next to the comic strip, and further down on the page just in case you want to read the Terms of Use, I guess).


I thought, "well, they're probably using the keyword I put in to target the ads." That may be the case, but the ads still appear when I use keywords like politics, garden, boobs, etc. [Note to the curious - try "boobs" in the keyword - go ahead, it won't hurt! - and laugh!]
Perhaps the "cookie" on my computer is coded with the first keywords I used? Or does an Ancestry.com ad show up for everybody who tries to see comics?

2 comments:

SCHELLY TALALAY DARDASHTI said...

Big Brother is watching you :-)

Schelly

Unknown said...

We may have a large search keyword list, but I can't say I ever thought to include the word 'boobs' in it. ;) Maybe there's a whole new marketing strategy we should be following...

Actually, Randy, it's funny that you posted this because I get this question all the time - even from TGN employees asking me why we're advertising on TheOnion.com or ILikeGreenShoes.com or whatever they've been browsing lately.

What's actually happening here is like nearly every advertiser, we target our message to those most interested in hearing it. This kind of thing saves you from seeing more messages than you'd like about Barbie dolls or skateboards - but then maybe I'm making assumptions about your browsing habits. ;)

Like most advertisers we do large network buys and give special attention to anonymous cookies who spend time on genealogy-oriented sites, as they're most likely to be interested in our offering. So as long as you're a genealogist, you're more likely to see an Ancestry.com ad than one about Hannah Montana or the latest Prada pumps.

Hopefully that clears up a little confusion. But call me anytime if you want to add suggestions like the above to our keyword list. :)

Cheyenne Richards
VP, Marketing, Ancestry.com