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- Cointelegraph Formula offers various ad formats to 8 million monthly readers across 190+ countries, leveraging its trusted name in crypto.
As a founder considering paid media in your crypto marketing strategy, you’ve probably asked yourself, “Should I use contextual or targeted (behavioral) ads?”
Both have their own upsides, depending on your campaign goals and target audience.
This guide breaks down the key distinctions so you can make the right online advertising choice to promote your crypto project.
What Are Contextual Ads?
Contextual advertising is a way to show ads that match the content of the webpage you're looking at. Instead of using your personal data or browsing history, it focuses on what's on the page right now. Let's break it down for you:
When you visit a website, the contextual ad system quickly scans the page to figure out what it's about. It looks at things like:
- The words on the page
- The pictures
- The topic of the article
- Where you are in the world
Then, it quickly picks ads that fit what you're reading about. This happens in real-time, so the ads you see are always relevant to what's on your screen.

Key Attributes of Contextual Crypto Ads
- Ad choice based on page content
- No user targeting capabilities
- Text/display ads only
- Topic relevance in the moment
For example, if you're reading an article about crypto news, you'll probably see ads for various crypto exchanges or relevant tokens.
But if you then switch to reading the sports news, you'll suddenly get ads for sports tickets or merchandise instead.
So the key characteristic is that ads in contextual marketing change based on the content rather than tracking a specific individual across the internet like targeted ads do.
Read More: What Is a Web3 Marketing Funnel and How Does It Work?
Why It's Not Ideal for Crypto Advertising
While contextual advertising can be useful, it's not always the best choice for crypto campaigns. Here's why:
- Limited targeting: Contextual ads can only show up on crypto-related pages. This means you might miss out on reaching potential crypto enthusiasts when they're browsing other topics.
- Broad audience: Not everyone reading about crypto is necessarily interested in your specific product or service. You might end up showing ads to people who aren't really your target audience.
- Less personalization: Contextual ads can't use data about a user's past behavior or interests, which can make them less effective for niche crypto products.
- Potential for mismatches: Sometimes, the context of a page might not accurately reflect the user's true interests or intentions.
What Are Targeted Ads?
Targeted advertising is a smart way to show ads to specific people who are more likely to be interested in your offering. When you use targeted crypto ads, you're essentially zeroing in on people who are most likely to be interested in your crypto project.

Here’s how it works. When you use the internet, you leave digital footprints. Websites, apps, and social media platforms collect information about you, such as:
- What you search for
- Which websites you visit
- What you buy online
- Your age, gender, and location
- Your interests and hobbies
With targeted crypto ads, it goes a step further to collect nonsensitive information like:
- Which wallets you own
- Which tokens you hold
- Which blockchains or dApps you interact with
Advertisers use this information to create ads that are more likely to catch your attention. It's like if a store knew exactly what you liked and only showed you those items when you walked in.
Examples of Targeted Advertising
Let's look at some scenarios to help you understand how targeted ads can work for your crypto campaign:
- Wallet-Based Targeting: Imagine you're launching a new DeFi platform. You could target users who have interacted with other DeFi protocols or have a certain amount of cryptocurrency in their wallets. For example, you might show your ads to users who have over $1000 worth of ETH in their MetaMask wallet.
- Behavior-Based Targeting: If you're promoting an NFT marketplace, you could target users who have previously purchased NFTs or frequently visit NFT-related websites.
- Interest-Based Targeting: For a new crypto exchange, you might target users who follow cryptocurrency news sites or engage with trading-related content on social media.
Why Targeted Ads Are Great for Crypto Advertising
Targeted advertising is particularly effective for crypto campaigns because:
- Precision: You can reach people who are already interested in crypto, making your ad spend more efficient.
- Personalization: Ads can be tailored to match the viewer's level of crypto knowledge or specific interests within the crypto world.
- Wider reach: You can find crypto enthusiasts even when they're not on crypto-specific sites, expanding your potential audience.
- Better results: By showing your ads to the right people, you're more likely to get clicks, sign-ups, or whatever action you're aiming for.
- Data-driven decisions: You can see how your ads perform in real-time and adjust your strategy quickly.
For example, a targeted ad campaign could help promote a new gaming platform built on Polygon to “crypto gamers who hold $MATIC in their wallet.”
This was how SPACE got 75,000 new users and 11,000 NFT mints using Targeted ads to Matic holders specifically.
This kind of laser-focused ability to define and target your ideal user makes targeted crypto ads extremely appealing.
Read More: Blockchain-Ads Review: How to Target Crypto Users through Ads
Contextual and Behavioral Advertising: Top Platforms
Here’s a quick example of platforms serving contextual ads and those serving targeted ads:
Contextual ads:
Targeted Ads or Personalized Ads:
- Blockchain-Ads
- Google-Ads
- Taboola
- Meta Ads
💡Only Blockchain-Ads supports crypto advertising.
Read More: Plus de 10 meilleurs réseaux publicitaires cryptographiques pour la croissance de projets en 2024
Principales différences entre les publicités ciblées et contextuelles
Exemples de publicités ciblées et d'annonces contextuelles
Prenons un exemple concret pour mettre en évidence la différence entre l'affichage d'une annonce ciblée et celui d'une annonce contextuelle en tant qu'utilisateur :

Scénario : Interagir avec les contrats intelligents AAVE pour que votre transaction soit enregistrée en chaîne
Publicités ciblées que vous pouvez voir si vous visitez un site Web sportif aléatoire :
- Publicités sur le protocole de prêt DeFi
- Publicités pour un nouveau portefeuille EVM en fonction de votre activité sur l'ether
L'empreinte numérique de l'utilisateur a déjà enregistré l'identifiant de son appareil, l'adresse de son portefeuille et d'autres comportements en chaîne/hors chaîne.
Ainsi, les annonceurs peuvent leur diffuser des publicités pertinentes par rapport à leur activité précédente, même sur des sites Web qui ne sont pas cryptés.
Annonces contextuelles que vous pouvez voir si vous visitez le même site web sportif aléatoire :
- Publicités pour paris sportifs et ligues de sports fantastiques
- Publicités pour les services de streaming pour regarder les sports en direct
Avec les publicités contextuelles, vous verrez probablement des publicités pertinentes liées au sport, car le contenu de la page ne contient rien de lié à la cryptographie.
Dès que vous passez à un site sur les NFT ou la finance, les publicités changeront également au lieu de vous suivre site à site.
Notre approche : des publicités ciblées pour des projets de blockchain axés sur les performances
Chez Blockchain-Ads, nous proposons aux annonceurs la pertinence de publicités ciblées en fonction du comportement des utilisateurs sur la chaîne.

Notre technologie propriétaire Web3-Cookie vous permet d'afficher des publicités uniquement aux personnes qui correspondent à votre profil d'utilisateur Web3 idéal à chaque fois.
Les principaux avantages constatés par nos clients sont les suivants :
- 4 à 23 fois le retour sur les dépenses publicitaires (ROAS)
- Taux de conversion de 3 à 5 % contre 0,4 % pour les réseaux publicitaires contextuels
- Plus de 60 milliards d'impressions publicitaires atteignant plus de 11 millions d'utilisateurs actifs de cryptomonnaies
Lisez notre revue détaillée de comment fonctionnent les publicités sur la blockchain.
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