BuzzLogic's Ad Network Aims at Emotion

BuzzLogic is targeting ads based on the enthusiasm shown on publisher and blog pages. Starbucks, Kraft, Toyota, and Microsoft are among the clients using the offering, called Spectrum, according to the San Francisco-based media company.

“We can look for someone demonstrating excitement for a [TV] show, by finding content where ‘can’t wait’ was associated with words like ‘watch premier’,” said BuzzLogic CTO John Donahue. “This not only works for things like entertainment and more buzz-oriented subjects but within broader categories such as automotive. Content that has the words ‘according to’ associated with a ‘car review’ for a specific sedan is where we identify the [language] as an ‘expert advice seeker’ for automotive.”

Spectrum’s emotion-triggered contextual targeting is part of a menu of ad delivery methods that also includes demographic and interest data. Other ad networks offer a similar combination of ad targeting factors.

BuzzLogic’s network reaches 1.5 billion pages from 60 million sources, including niche blogs. It leans on cross-web data from the last 18 months, and uses a CPM pricing model. Brands and agencies ship the creative to BuzzLogic, which then layers the demographic, behavioral, and emotion keyword targeting onto the campaign. When content on a page is changed, Donahue said, it gets re-ranked in real-time, which affects whether a bid is placed for the advertiser.

“We find…hundreds of URLs to buy in a campaign at page level, bid on them, and run the ads,” he said. “After the campaign has ended we provide a…report that shows where they ran, CTR and other creative effectiveness measures, how their brand and campaign goals were achieved, and then suggests the next schedule they should run.”