Google+YouTube and contextual ads gone wrong

For those who don’t know, contextual ads are targeted advertisements that are displayed on a webpage based on what the content is. For instance, you may be looking at a page about the latest cameras and all of a sudden, Google serves you an ad for guess what… the new Canon 5D MKII camera!

Well, it doesn’t always work… I was watching a video on YouTube today that was made by this ultra-cool-yet-crazy-lady called Justine Ezarik, or probably better known as iJustine.com. Anyhow, what happened was, YouTube as always was serving ads, and I suddenly noticed that it had taken the literal word Turkey, and was serving ads to go visit the COUNTRY OF TURKEY!

Check this screenshot out…

Anyhow, I guess it’s not so easy for the ad engines to determine what type of turkey Justine was parading about. It’s just a little unfortunate for advertisers who choose keywords that might have different connotations. As such, when you advertise on Google, do beware of how you position your ad.