Seedtag’s Contextual AI Seeks to Understand Multi-screen Content

Is multi-screen contextual targeting at a granular level even possible? With Contextual AI, Seedtag aims to make it a reality sooner rather than later. The global contextual advertising company specializes in serving ads across the open web and CTV, which is rapidly expanding its reach but struggles with precision audience targeting.

Targeting to broad genre content on subscription-based CTV platforms is the norm. But Seedtag wants to provide deeper thematic engagement. Its Contextual AI holds out the promise of ads being aligned with web, mobile, and CTV topics by transcribing dialogue, analyzing visuals, and understanding sentiment.

Seedtag’s president of North America Brian Danzis went deeper into these capabilities in a chat with StreetFight.

How are CTV platforms missing deeper thematic engagement with ads and content?

CTV platforms are blocking granular contextual targeting and many of the benefits that go along with granular targeting. Brand suitability is not possible if one does not know what content the ads are running in. Broad genre categories block the ability to do audience targeting without PII or IDs in a privacy-first manner. For example, Erin Brockovich, Pans Labyrinth, Inglorious Basterds are all movies classified as “Drama” but have wildly different themes and audiences. Reduced personalization or content relevance prevents brand messages from resonating with audiences. Advertisers are forced to over-rely on household or demographic data, missing contextually rich placements that could improve brand recall and conversion rates.

Please describe Seedtag’s Contextual AI capability and how it works.

Powered by its contextual AI, Liz, Seedtag helps brands and agencies worldwide uncover the most relevant audience interests across the open web and CTV. By leveraging a sophisticated graph fueled by contextual data from over 12,000 premium publishers, Seedtag ensures advertisers connect with their audience at the right moment with the right message. To further enhance ad relevance and engagement, Seedtag offers solutions in generative AI, custom AI targeting, and dynamic placement optimization (DPO), among others.

Tell me about Liz and how she got her name.

Liz, Seedtag’s contextual AI technology, specializes in privacy-first advertising throughout the open web and CTV. Refined over a decade, Liz leverages natural language processing, deep learning, and computer vision can analyze content in over 10 languages from more than 12 billion source articles. Built and managed entirely in-house by Seedtag’s team of 100+ engineers, Liz continuously evolves to stay at the forefront of AI-driven contextual targeting.

What is a real-world example in which a local advertisers used Seedtag’s contextual AI to locally target audiences.

Seedtag’s data-driven contextual AI transformed a global airline’s CTV advertising strategy. By targeting U.S. travelers in highly relevant contexts, the campaign drove a 48% lift in awareness and a 21% increase in brand favorability for its new nonstop flight from the U.S. to Marrakech, as highlighted by third-party analysis. Pushing boundaries, the campaign used contextual AI to uncover custom audience interests beyond conventional travel themes. Guided by Liz’s open web analysis, Seedtag identified white spaces ideal for CTV targeting, enabling the campaign to go beyond traditional travel categories by implementing custom audience interests.

What type of dialogue differentiations can it use to appeal to a brand’s local customers?

Liz possesses a human-like understanding of the context of the content on a web page, going far beyond categories and keywords to offer advertisers precise targeting with impactful results. In addition, Liz conducts brand-safety categorization that significantly exceeds industry standards, ensuring ads only appear alongside suitable and brand-safe content.

Give me an example of some local themes and trends Seedtag’s technology was able to identify in a local campaign and the tailored ad it served.

For the aforementioned CTV campaign for a global aviation leader, Seedtag leveraged contextual data insights that helped them reach over 122,000 unique U.S. households. The campaign demonstrated how contextual advertising goes beyond conventional targeting, delivering a more nuanced approach to audience engagement. By focusing on content related to adventure, arts & crafts, food, technology, and travel, Seedtag ensured the ads reached the right audiences in highly relevant CTV contexts—resulting in 80% of viewers agreeing that the ads set the airline apart from competitors, as confirmed by third-party research.

How powerful is CTV in the effort to reach hyperlocal audiences? Why?

CTV campaigns using contextual intelligence can help reach hyperlocal audiences by identifying behaviors and interests that correlate with their interests. For example, a young person who frequently watches content related to nature and the outdoors may be more receptive to a message about climate change policy. By utilizing first-party data and contextual insights, campaigns can target these audiences with personalized ads that connect with their unique interests and concerns.

 Will 2025 be a pivotal year for CTV? If so, how and why?

In 2025, CTV will continue its growth globally, with broadcasters and content owners adding thousands of new FAST channels to meet ever-growing consumer demand. Advertising investment will follow these eyeballs and continue to grow at double digits through the end of the decade, bringing innovation in household-level targeting, advancements in dynamic and shoppable creatives, and more advanced cross-channel measurement. For contextual AI, we’ll start to see the ability to contextualize video content by episode and scene, letting brands sequence and align their ads more precisely to what’s happening on screen.

How can local companies harness multi-screen contextual understanding to compete effectively against larger brands?

Local companies can compete with larger brands by leveraging multi-screen contextual AI to deliver relevant messaging across devices. By analyzing content in real time, they can align ads with user interest and intent, ensuring engagement in the right moments. Maintaining a consistent brand presence across mobile, desktop, and CTV while adapting formats to each platform enhances impact. Additionally, hyperlocal targeting allows them to reach audiences with region-specific messaging, maximizing relevance and driving stronger connections with local consumers.