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Contextual & Audiences

Contextual targeting for publishers, without cookies

Contextual targeting matches ads to what a page is about, not to who is reading it. Fusion reads every page your tag loads on with natural-language AI, tags it with topics and the people, brands and things it mentions, and lets you build audiences from them. Enabled audiences go to your ad server with each ad request, with no cookies, user tracking or personal data.

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How it works

From a published article to an audience you can sell

  1. 01
    Crawl
    The first time a reader opens a page, Fusion crawls it in the background. From the next visit, its topics and entities are ready to use.
  2. 02
    Build
    Combine contextual categories and terms with IAB categories, URL paths and sites into segments, and segments into audiences. Reach updates as you add filters.
  3. 03
    Enable
    Give the audience a key and value and switch it on. New pages are checked against it as they are crawled, so it stays up to date.
  4. 04
    Sell
    When a page matches, the audience is passed to the ad server with the ad request, ready for direct campaigns, PMP and PG deals.
Contextual vs behavioural

Targeting the page, not the person

Behavioural targeting follows people around the web. Contextual targeting describes the page they are reading, which you own and can sell directly.

Contextual targeting compared with cookie-based behavioural targeting
Contextual targetingCookie-based (behavioural) targeting
Based onWhat the page is aboutWhat a person has browsed before
Cookies or user IDsNoneThird-party cookies or user IDs
Personal dataNoneOften, linked to a profile
Browser tracking preventionNot affected: nothing is trackedLimits or blocks it
What you sellYour content, described in a buyer's termsAn audience that can be bought elsewhere
Set up in FusionSwitch on contextual, then build audiencesID providers, in the integrations list

Looking for user-level identity instead? Fusion also connects ID providers such as UID2, RampID and SharedID. Fusion only passes personal information to them once the reader has consented through your CMP.

Audience builder

What you can build an audience from

Mix any of these filters. The estimated reach updates as you add each one, so you can see how narrow an audience is before you sell it.

Contextual categories

Broad types of thing a page mentions, such as Vehicle, Person or Organisation.

Contextual terms

The specific names found on the page, matched exactly or with a wildcard, such as Tesla*.

IAB categories

The IAB Content Taxonomy topic of the page, such as Automotive or Sports.

URL paths

Sections of your site, such as /motoring/*, with the same wildcards as tag targeting.

Sites

Which of your websites an audience covers, with a breakdown by site for each audience.

Other segments

Segments can contain segments, so a General Motors segment can hold Cadillac and Chevrolet.

Every saved audience shows its monthly reach, monthly impressions, impressions over time and a breakdown by site, and you can switch it off at any time.

Reaching buyers

How contextual data reaches advertisers

Once contextual is switched on, two signals are sent automatically. Your own audiences and IAB values are added on top.

The four ways Fusion passes contextual data to buyers: your audiences, IAB Curated Audiences, Publisher Provided Signals and your own IAB values
SignalHow it is setWhat is sentGood for
Your own audiencesYou build them in FusionThe key and value you choose, for example motoring=teslaDirect campaigns, PMP and PG deals for a specific brief
IAB Curated AudiencesAutomatic once contextual is on (since February 2026)Pre-defined IAB taxonomy values, such as the page's IAB Content Taxonomy categoryBuyers who target standard IAB categories
Publisher Provided SignalsAutomatic once contextual is onIAB-aligned contextual categories, pushed into Google Ad ManagerBuyers in Google Ad Manager who target by publisher signals
Your own IAB valuesOptional, through the tag's JavaScript APIReserved keys IAB_CONTENT_2_2 and IAB_AUDIENCE_1_1Publishers with their own classification or first-party audience data
Brand-safe contextual dealsAudiences in the docsWhy we built it
Results

Where publishers got to on Fusion

Results are for each publisher's whole Fusion set-up, not contextual targeting alone.

+1,710%net revenueTimes Higher Education — header bidding, dynamic floors and refresh on a managed stackRead the case study +131%total revenue, including directLondon South East — Managed Service, with +121% user RPMRead the case study +129%overall revenueKelsey Media — across its flagship sites, versus the previous partnerRead the case study
FAQ

Contextual targeting questions, answered

What is contextual targeting?
Contextual targeting places ads based on the content of the page being read, such as an electric car review or a football match report, rather than on the reader's browsing history. For a publisher, it turns your content into something advertisers can buy directly: "pages about electric cars" instead of "people we think like cars".
Does Fusion's contextual targeting use cookies or personal data?
No. It reads the page, not the person. No cookies, user IDs or tracking are involved, so browser tracking prevention doesn't affect it. It sits alongside your consent set-up rather than replacing it: your CMP still decides whether ads can be personalised.
How much does contextual cost?
It is priced per page crawled. Once a page has been crawled, using its data is free for life. When you first switch it on, every visited page is new, so the crawl rate (and cost) starts high, then drops to just the new pages you publish. See contextual in the docs.
How quickly is a new article targetable?
From its second visit. The first visit to a page triggers a crawl in the background, and the data is ready for the next visitor. New pages are checked against your enabled audiences automatically as they are crawled.
What are IAB Curated Audiences?
Since February 2026, Fusion's contextual data also feeds pre-defined IAB taxonomies, not just the audiences you build. It happens automatically once contextual is on: the page's IAB Content Taxonomy category (IAB_CONTENT_2_2) is passed for you. You can also pass your own values through the tag's JavaScript API.
What is the difference between a segment and an audience?
A segment is a saved group of filters, such as a contextual category of Vehicle and terms for Volvo models. An audience is what you push to the ad server: it has a key and value, a reach overview (monthly reach, monthly impressions and impressions over time) and an on/off switch. You can build audiences straight from filters, or from reusable segments.
Does it work with my own Google Ad Manager?
Yes. Contextual works whether you run your own Google Ad Manager through Fusion or ours. Audiences are passed as key-values with each ad request, and IAB-aligned categories are pushed as Publisher Provided Signals. You can book them into direct line items, PMP or PG deals; our brand safety page shows how for a campaign brief.
Can I use contextual audiences in apps?
Yes. The Fusion mobile SDKs support in-app contextual targeting by mapping each screen to its canonical web page.
Why isn't my site being crawled?
Check two things. The publisher domain in Fusion must match the domain the ad requests come from. And your firewall must let our bot in: it identifies itself as FusionBot/1.0 (compatible; Mozilla/5.0; +https://api.tagdeliver.com). Contextual is switched on for each publisher by your account manager.
Our view on Google's cookie update

Turn your content into audiences.

Contextual is switched on for each publisher by your account manager. Tell us about your sites and we'll show you what your pages could sell.

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