A while ago I passed on a story about how print ads that appeared in out-of-context settings, such as a car ad in the Entertainment section, actually appeared to have a higher retention rate with the audience. They don't blend into the clutter as much seemed to be the main thinking.

Well now a behavioral targeting firm named Tacoda has found that similar tactics can work on the Internet too. Ads delivered that were not contextually relevant to the page a web user was currently visiting had a 17% higher click-rate than ads on the appropriate subject. While information on the actual response rate is not yet available it's at least interesting to note that presenting ads that contrast with other information on the page can still be successful. From the wording of the story it appears this study focused on banner ads as opposed to text placements. I'm not completely sold on the idea based on the success of contextual advertising but it's an interesting counter-point to what is now accepted as conventional wisdom.