Inline keyword based ads allow advertisers to bid on specific keywords… if those keywords are in the content of a post on their site, the keyword can become a hyperlink that links readers to the advertiser’s site.
One question that we’ve received on more than one occasion has to do with someone bidding on a keyword, but their keyword isn’t linked and they are curious why.
One link per post
We don’t want posts to be overloaded with keyword ads, so no more than one ad per post will ever be linked. So advertisers end up competing against other keywords that exist in the same post for placement.
Long tail vs. short tail keywords
Let’s say for example someone is bidding on the phrase “best web hosting”. Their phrase can’t exist in a post without the phrase “web hosting” or just “hosting” existing. This means that short tail versions of your phrase are indirectly competing for placement with the long tail versions.