Contextual-only advertising program

advertising-contextual-targetingDomain: advertisingType: mixed

Description

When a product serves ads to user segments that regulators have placed under heightened protection (minors, sensitive-category profiling targets) the lower-risk path is to serve contextual ads — selected by the content surface or query keyword rather than by inferred user attributes — and to NOT serve behavioral / profile-based ads to those segments. The control documents three pieces: a contextual-ad policy specifying which user segments are profile-ad-excluded, the technical configuration of the ad-serving integration that enforces contextual-only mode for those segments, and the audit log showing per-impression which mode was used. Vendors in the contextual-ad space ship targeting based on page content + computer-vision content classification rather than user profiles, which simplifies the compliance posture against DSA Art 26, GDPR Art 22, AADC, and KOSA's profile-ad restrictions on minors.

Required by (3 regulations)

DSA
Article 28 — online platforms accessible to minors must not present profile-based advertising using personal data of users they know with reasonable certainty to be minors.
DSA Art. 28
UK AADC
Standard 13 (Profiling) — profiling off by default for likely-to-be-children users; behavioral-ad profiling specifically called out.
ICO AADC Standard 13
CA AADC
§1798.99.31(a)(4) — businesses may not profile a child by default; default-off profiling necessarily disables behavioral ads to children.
Cal. Civ. Code §1798.99.31(a)(4)

Fulfilled by (3)

gumgum · full · medium effort · $$
Contextual ad platform — computer-vision-based page-content targeting, no user-profile dependency.
seedtag · full · medium effort · $$
Contextual ad network — AI-driven content matching; explicit cookieless / no-profile offering.
In-house build · high effort
Configure ad-serving integrations (e.g. Google Ad Manager, custom DSP relationships) to disable profile-based targeting for minor / sensitive segments; audit per impression.

ClearLaunch does not accept payment from vendors. Methodology.

Evidence formats

contextual-ad policy doc
ad-serving configuration screenshot / config-export
per-impression audit log (segment → mode)
minor / sensitive-segment exclusion-list

ClearLaunch provides legal information based on publicly available regulatory sources. It does not constitute legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction before making compliance decisions.

Description

Required by (3 regulations)

DSA

Article 28 — online platforms accessible to minors must not present profile-based advertising using personal data of users they know with reasonable certainty to be minors.

DSA Art. 28

UK AADC

Standard 13 (Profiling) — profiling off by default for likely-to-be-children users; behavioral-ad profiling specifically called out.

ICO AADC Standard 13

CA AADC

§1798.99.31(a)(4) — businesses may not profile a child by default; default-off profiling necessarily disables behavioral ads to children.

Cal. Civ. Code §1798.99.31(a)(4)

Fulfilled by (3)

gumgum · full · medium effort · $$

Contextual ad platform — computer-vision-based page-content targeting, no user-profile dependency.

seedtag · full · medium effort · $$

Contextual ad network — AI-driven content matching; explicit cookieless / no-profile offering.

In-house build · high effort

Configure ad-serving integrations (e.g. Google Ad Manager, custom DSP relationships) to disable profile-based targeting for minor / sensitive segments; audit per impression.

ClearLaunch does not accept payment from vendors. Methodology.