Contextual advertising has a ways to go yet. There is a certain coolness to technology that can read content and then instantly grab an ad to go with it, but the day remains as to when these algorithms will be able to exercise good judgment. Currently, contextual ads are the guy at the party who brought the beer and the music, but hushes the crowd on occasion of his inappropriate humor—cracking wheelchair jokes at the Special Olympics.

Today’s example of unfortunate ad pairings comes from CNN. When an Air France Airbus crashed aflame alongside a Toronto highway this morning, the story on CNN.com was accompanied with ads for discounted fairs on Air France. Forty to seventy percent off. Funny? In a morbid way, yes. Appropriate? Not even close. The ads have since been pulled from the story, as soon as the powers that be noticed the algorithmic faux pas.

Or how about New York City’s shattered 2012 Olympic yearnings being mocked by its own ad placed by an article announcing London’s winning of the venue? Funny? Very. Sad? That too.

These are the more ironic examples. JenSense has a nice relevancy comparison of Yahoo’s Publisher Network ads and Google’s AdSense. As you’ll see, the results are mixed. Mark Glaser has a nice analysis as well.

Maybe one day in the artificial intelligence future, some algorithmic genius will figure out how to provide them with good taste, a stronger ability to judge, decide, and react, without world domination “for humankind’s own good” proclivities. Until then, we can sit back and laugh as accidents happen. Or gasp with abhorrence.

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"I never met a Kentuckian who wasn't coming home."--Governor Happy Chandler