Bad Ad Placement of the Day: NYT Cruises for Trouble
February 28, 2012 • 1 min read • By Brian Morrissey

One would think this far into contextual targeting it wouldn’t yield ridiculous pairings with inappropriate content. But sadly one would be wrong. The New York Times today committed a textbook boo-boo by putting a huge half-page ad for Holland America Line cruises next to a story about a rescue attempt of a crippled Italian cruise ship. There is a bit of a pattern here, since the NYT slapped an ad for a different cruise line next to a story about a crippled ship in January. The Times appears to have fixed this issue by mid-morning. Thanks to ad targeting company Admantx for screenshot.