You may already know that the year you were born is considered the year of the rat, ox, or horse according to the ancient Chinese zodiac.  What you probably didn’t know yet, is that at Kontera, we’ve proclaimed 2010 as the year of relevancy.

What does this mean for our partners?  Well, it’s pretty simple, higher relevancy means that:

• Publishers don’t sell out their users to irrelevant ad exposure and are not hurting their users’ experience. Happy users mean increased traffic, time on site, and loyalty.
• Higher CTR – as you get paid by the click, more clicks means more money for your website
• Advertisers don’t have ads served to users who aren’t interested, thus getting high conversion on their campaign

Essentially everyone profits!

Relevancy is a mark at Kontera that we take very seriously.  Our relevancy efforts start at the “story-level” targeting where we interpret the meaning of the page then matching it with contextual ads that are the most relevant ones.

One measure of relevancy is in the form of a metric called CTR.  CTR or click through rate is a frequency ratio between the number of times an ad is viewed and the number of times it gets clicked on.  Experts agree that as the net becomes increasingly more built up, advertising campaigns that were formerly effective may not hold effectiveness.   In fact, recent statistics indicate that classic banner ads carry a mere .07% CTR rate bringing further understanding to the rise in the phrase “banner blindness”.  In contrast, ads on the Kontera network are characterized by starting click through rates that exceed 10% with some campaigns reaching upwards of 14% (!).

CTR is just one measure of a publisher’s ad performance, but is one of the most honest ways to gauge user satisfaction and interest.  Many publishers  find that after testing with other In-Text ad networks, their user experience suffers and many users desert their site due to the low relevancy threshold so be sure not to compromise when it comes to relevancy.

The next time you read your zodiac sign at your local Chinese restaurant, be sure to remember 2010 as not only the year of the tiger but also as Kontera’s commitment to relevancy.

Michael was first introduced to Kontera in 2007 while working with them at SmartMoney. In October, he became the newest member of the Strategic team where his focus will be on developing partnerships with premium publishers.

Michael grew up in northern New Jersey and attended the University of Maryland (he’s the third MD alum to work at Kontera).  Outside of the office Michael enjoys traveling, surfing, and spending time with family and friends.

What was your role at SmartMoney?

I first joined SmartMoney as their Director of Digital Advertising on the west coast before moving to New York in 2008 to become their Director of Digital Strategy.  In that role I worked as a liaison between ad sales, editorial, and marketing and was responsible for identifying new partnership opportunities with outside vendors.

What was the publication trying to do in terms of monetization and user value? What are the main factors that premium publishers take into account when choosing which monetization strategies to employ?

At SmartMoney’s core, the goal of the site is to be an empowerment tool that enables its users to make intelligent investing decisions.  In that same light, SmartMoney looks to attract and partner with advertisers that can deliver additional value to its audience through the products and services they offer.  These same principles carried over to the decision-making process when determining which vendors to partner with.  Of course, revenue potential was always heavily weighed, but keeping true to user intent was equally as important.  On some level there had to be a benefit to the users as well.  I would say most publishers fall into that same line of thinking when evaluating which vendors to work with.

Why did you look at In-Text Advertising?

We first considered In-Text Advertising after seeing that more publishers (large and small) began adopting the technology.  We also felt that we could have been doing more in terms of working with additional technology providers that could help to further monetize the site – be it with rich media, mobile, behavioral or In-Text advertising.  Ultimately, we decided that In-Text advertising was something we could test without dedicating a lot of time and internal resources.

Why did you choose Kontera?  What separated Kontera’s In-Text solution from other offerings on the market?

The decision to work with Kontera boiled down to a couple of key solutions that we didn’t find were offered from their competitors.  While the revenue was certainly an important motivating factor, we were more so impressed with Kontera’s hybrid unit and its ability to both deliver related content to our users and keep them engaged.  When we first evaluated in-text advertising we did not realize it was something that could actually add to the user experience.  We also were excited about Kontera’s white label solution as it allowed our sales team to go to market with an additional product to sell to advertisers.

From your experience, what “words of wisdom” or recommendations do you have for publishers as they set out on their journey to grow their websites?

I believe the key to growing and sustaining a successful website lies first and foremost with audience engagement.  Does the site keep a constant dialogue going with its users and truly understand their intent?  More importantly, do they provide them with a reason to come back to the site on a daily or weekly basis?  If the answer is no, I don’t think it’s possible to succeed in the long run.  From a monetization standpoint, ad integration that is appropriate and introduced to an audience naturally is not only a good thing for the advertiser and publisher, but something that can end up being useful to the user as well.  At the end of the day, relevancy seems to be the key to keeping both users and advertisers happy (and publishers wealthier).

How did Kontera deliver for you over the years?

While I was with SmartMoney, Kontera provided us with a consistent revenue stream that we could count on month-to-month, as well as top-notch customer support.  We were always impressed with the proactive nature of Kontera’s Publisher Services Team.  Good customer service was not something you could automatically expect from all vendors.

Why did you join Kontera and what is your role with the company?

As a former client and someone who understands and believes in the technology I felt that working at Kontera would be an exciting opportunity for me.  I also felt that I would be joining a great team and a company that was committed to success, while also having fun in the process.  As a part of the strategic team I am looking forward to establishing additional partnerships within the premium vertical and extending Kontera’s contextual advertising technology to the top properties on the web.

Our top clicked Keywords list provides an interesting glimpse into what terms are in the center of attention over the past few weeks. From Finance news to best selling gadgets and hot trends, you can be sure that these Keywords will cover them all.

The last two weeks of summer are bound to spark the travel bug in all of us and people are getting restless to take one more trip before school starts again.  Cruising, flying, and luxury hotels—anything goes, and ‘Travel’ related keywords are more attractive than ever.

In ‘Sports’ it’s been a dramatic summer on one of golf’s majors – the ‘PGA Championship’ – as Y.E. Yang, beat none other than the sport’s No. 1 guy – ‘Tiger Woods’. To those of us who are looking for a different type of sporting thrills the ‘UFC’ provided a good viewing alternative to Golf.

Award winning show ‘Mad Men’ is back and it’s more clickable than ever. That said, it takes a lot more than Madison Avenue advertisers or the ‘District 9′ aliens to move ‘Vanessa Hudgens’ from her place at the top of the ‘Entertainment’ category. The 40th anniversary of the ‘Woodstock Festival’ generated a lot of click-love and what better way to bring summer to a close than by listening to some great music while wearing flowers in your hair?

Kontera’s Top Keywords Post Series brings to you the most clicked terms per category each month. For additional posts visit Top Clicked Keywords.

Kontera’s top clicked keywords list for this month is ready for launch   We’ve selected a few top categories that have amassed a large number of clicks to see which terms have received the most attention.  Many publishers who are making money blogging, utilize these lists to help gain focus for their blog writing efforts.

“Virtual makeover” has fairly won its top place on the list this month with a high number of clicks and lots of coverage.  I find virtual  makeover sites to be a great invention.  Not only are they fun to play with, but they can also serve as preventive medicine for impulsive real-life makeovers.  They relieve something of that need to just be spontaneous today and dye my hair magenta.  Or encourage it.

Cooking & Dining category has brought up some surprises.  A nice cooling breeze amidst the summer comes with keyword “gazpacho recipe”- the timing is just right.  Along with it, but thankfully unrelated, keyword “dog treat recipe” has jumped to the top, and if you are making money blogging, you may want to consider this one.  Have a look for some homemade treats; your dog will definitely appreciate it.

This month Entertainment category includes “Transformers”, all in less than two weeks of release, we already hear that “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” is on the verge of becoming the highest-grossing pic of the year at the worldwide box office.

>> Find out more about making money blogging

2009 has already seen its fair share of dramatic events and we’re not even half way through yet… Recent days have stirred up much fascination across the globe with two news stories unfolding something of humanity’s link to the past and to the future.  The launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis has made an appearance in our current events category attracting many, many interested clicks to those who choose to make money with blogs. Could also have something to do with Star Trek’s box office popularity …  Another incredible scientific achievement is the uncovering of Ida, an ancient primate fossil, 47-million years of age, believed to form a crucial “missing link” between our own evolutionary branch and the rest of the animal kingdom.  Over the past few days “Fossil” has turned into a very popular, clicked term.

“Olivia Wilde” represents yet another hot keyword, the “House” star who tops Maxim magazines annual “Hot 100″ list is also dominating our Entertainment category. Congratulations to Kris Allen on coming in first on season 8 of “American Idol,” even though yesterday was the season finale we’re certain  this show will continue to receive a lot of click attention. “Wolverine” is our most clickable movie and “Blink 182″ upcoming reunion tour is also starring on the list.

There are many more interested trends manifested in our top clicked Keyword list some are seasonal like “Mother’s Day” and “Prom dresses” while others maintain a constant click appeal – “New iphone” is a sure bet as the electronics topic always fares well among publishers who make money with blogs.

Kontera’s Top Keywords Post Series brings to you the most clicked terms per category each month. For additional posts visit Top Clicked Keywords.

>> Find out more about making money with blogs