In addition to our interests and audience targeting tactics, and with more brand safety concerns arising, you have the option to use contextual targeting to reach consumers as they browse the most relevant content by relying on the IAB categories.

You can see the supported IAB categories here.

Outbrain DSP allows ads to be served to the most contextually relevant placements across the web for a targeted audience without targeting specific online users, which can be an answer or a solution to user privacy concerns.

You can select categories from an extensive list of verticals defined by the IAB, ensuring campaigns run only across specific pages that meet selected criteria — from broad topics like “Business & Finance” to granular topics like “Hobbies & Interests > Chess.”

IMPORTANT: This contrasts Interest targeting, which targets consumers based on their characteristics, regardless of which publisher page they are on.

Publishers’ content is categorized at the page and article level, allowing you to target content that is specific to your audiences rather than broadly targeting at the domain level.

Go ahead and include and/or exclude categories from the drop-down list of available IAB Categories and add them to your targetings by clicking on the +/Add icon.

PLEASE NOTE: Avoid applying heavy targeting to your campaign, as this will hinder your scale. There is no minimum CPC to utilize Contextual targeting, but you should always check to ensure your CPC is competitive enough to reach your audience when layering on targeting.

IAB category targeting is part of a new wave of contextual features Outbrain DSP is investing in to help you reach the most relevant audiences as third-party cookies continue to decline.