Creating Contextual Cohorts

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Overview

This guide walks you through creating a Contextual Cohort in the Permutive Dashboard. Contextual Cohorts enable you to target ads based on page content without processing user data.

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Steps

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Predicate Types

Show Using Content Classifications

Content Classifications allow you to target based on automated NLP analysis of your content.To use Content Classifications in a cohort:

1. Select Content Classifications as your predicate type
2. Select a Dimension Type:
   • Categories: Topic classifications (requires taxonomy selection)
   • Concepts: Key themes
   • Entities: Named entities
   • Keywords: Important terms
   • Sentiment: Emotional tone
   • Emotion: Specific emotions
3. For Categories, select the Taxonomy (e.g., IAB 2.0, IAB 3.0, BVDW)
4. Choose an Operator (e.g., “is”, “contains”)
5. Enter or select your target Value

Example: Target positive soccer content:

• Dimension: Sentiment
• Operator: is
• Value: positive
• AND Category (IAB 2.0): Sports > Soccer

Show Using Page Properties

Page Properties allow you to target based on editorial metadata and custom content attributes.To use Page Properties in a cohort:

1. Select Page Properties as your predicate type
2. Choose a property from the dropdown (e.g., client.section, client.author, custom properties)
3. Select an operator (e.g., “is”, “contains”, “is not”)
4. Enter the target value

Example: Target articles in the “Finance” section with a specific tag:

• Property: client.section
• Operator: is
• Value: Finance
• AND Property: client.tags
• Operator: contains
• Value: investment

Available Page PropertiesThe Page Properties dropdown includes custom Pageview properties you’ve defined and standard client properties. If you are implementing the Contextual API directly, you must pass these properties to the API for them to be available for targeting. If the SDK is making the call, it will automatically attach page properties.Note that enriched properties like ISP and Geo data are not available in Page Properties for Contextual Cohorts.

Show Using Affinity Cohorts

Affinity Cohorts enable you to target content that shows high engagement from a specific Custom Cohort.To use Affinity Cohorts:

1. Select Affinity Cohort as your predicate type
2. Choose a Custom Cohort from the dropdown
3. Select an Operator (e.g., “is greater than”)
4. Set an Affinity Score threshold

Example: Target content with 2x or greater engagement from “Sports Enthusiasts”:

• Custom Cohort: Sports Enthusiasts
• Operator: is greater than
• Value: 200

Affinity Cohort RestrictionsYou can select any Custom Cohort built from first-party behavioral data. However, you cannot select:

• Modeled cohorts
• Standard cohorts
• Cohorts using third-party data

Recommended Starting Threshold: We generally recommend starting with an affinity score threshold greater than 200 for a good balance of relevance and scale.

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Combining Multiple Conditions

Contextual Cohorts support complex logic by combining multiple predicates:

• Use +AND to require all conditions to be met
• Use +OR to create alternative paths for targeting

Example: Target finance content OR content with high affinity to investors:

• Content Classification: Categories (IAB 2.0) is “Finance”
• OR Affinity Cohort: Investor Cohort is greater than 150

Example: Target positive sports articles about soccer:

• Content Classification: Categories (IAB 2.0) is “Sports > Soccer”
• AND Content Classification: Sentiment is “positive”
• AND Page Properties: client.section is “Sports”

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Next Steps