A company that provides services such as planning, creating, buying, and tracking advertisements and ad campaigns on behalf of a client.

An ad call (or ad request) is when one computer requests an ad from another. A user’s browser asks an ad exchange or ad server to send an ad. The ad call contains information from browser cookies and ad tag information such as publisher ID, size, location, referring URL, etc.

A platform or system that facilitates buying and selling media advertising inventory, whose prices are determined through bidding from multiple ad networks.

A company that connects advertisers to websites that want to host advertisements. The key function of an ad network is the aggregation of ad space supply from publishers and matching it with advertiser demand. Networks generally aggregate publishers and advertisers and handle remnant inventory but can have a wide variety of business models and clients.

The computer or group of computers responsible for serving creative to websites, or for making decisions about what ads will be served. An ad server may also track clicks on ads and other data. Major publishers, networks, and advertisers sometimes have their own ad servers.

A snippet of HTML or Javascript code that contacts an ad server to request an ad. This code snippet is inserted within a webpage’s source code where an ad is to be placed.

Percentage of video ads watched to the end.

Comes from a blind network, such as when the advertisers place ads but don’t know the exact places their ads are being placed.

Branding campaigns have unique goals: to develop a brand and raise awareness and visibility of a product, service, or cause.

A unique number that acts as your identification within the DSP of your choice, more commonly known as a “Seat ID."

Contextual Targeting delivers ads based on the content's subject and environment such as text or video. It does not rely on or use any user data or personally identifiable information (PII).

A buy-side platform that allows buyers of digital ad inventory to connect easily and directly with sellers in a programmatic and real-time environment.

A region where the population can receive the same or similar media and internet content.

Campaigns that have a call-to-action (CTA) compelling the user to do something specific, e.g., buy a product, fill out a form, sign up to a newsletter.

Google’s programmatic advertising platform, renamed in 2018 to Google Display & Video 360.

Programmatic advertising option that allows advertisers to optimize ads based on real-time data about the viewer.

Passed 2016, implemented 2018, the GDPR is a law on data protection and privacy in the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area. The regulation became a model for many national laws outside the EU, including CCPA.

Header bidding (also known as advance bidding or pre-bidding) is an advanced programmatic technique where publishers offer inventory to multiple ad exchanges simultaneously before making calls to their ad servers with the aim to increase publisher yield and revenue.

Each time an ad is fetched from its source and renders on a viewer’s screen is countable as one impression. Impressions are not action-based; it’s defined by a user potentially seeing the ad.

A measurable value that demonstrates how effectively a company is achieving its business goals.

A type of online advertising that matches the look and feel of the publisher site. These ads are often found in social media feeds, as recommended articles, or advertorial content.

Sites within an exchange that are less clear or harder to identify specifically.

Outbound online advertising includes banner and display ads, pop-ups and pop-unders, pay-per-click (PPC), and contextual ads. Its premise is to find a medium with a large following and seek to grab the attention of potential customers.

Text or image ads that appear on the bottom of a video. When strategically placed, overlay ads can increase click-through-rate (CTR) for advertising campaigns. Overlay ads typically appear on the bottom 20% of a video and do not interfere with the user’s ability to watch their content.

An internet advertising model in which an advertiser pays a publisher when the ad is clicked. Also known as cost per click (CPC).

Technology used to automate the buying, placement, and optimization of online advertising inventory, rather than buying directly from publishers.

An entity that bids on impressions in a programmatic exchange. Every bidder is powered by proprietary algorithms that drive performance.

All inventory available for purchase on an ad exchange.

All inventory managed by a network. Ads targeted RON can appear on any page within multiple publishers’ sites.

The process of increasing quality web traffic to a website or web page by boosting its visibility to users of a search engine.

A form of online marketing focusing on the promotion and positioning of websites within search engines to maximize visibility, primarily through paid advertising.

A method of transmitting data (especially video or audio material) directly to a user’s device, where a multimedia file can be played back without being completely downloaded.

Analogous to a demand-side platform (DSP), an SSP enables publishers to access demand from a variety of networks, exchanges, and platforms via one interface.

Any form of content on a website that was posted by users of online platforms (such as social media, forums, and wikis), not the publisher. Different publishers have varying levels of control over user-generated content.

The points of communication between humans and computers in a device. Can include a keyboard, mouse, display screen, computer desktop, etc.

Ad verification is any technology that monitors or ensures that online ads appear on the intended site and reach the target audience.

The determination of how visible online ads are on a website or mobile app. According to the IAB, for an ad to be considered “viewed”, at least 50% of the creative must display on screen for more than one second.

This is an XML-based video ad serving protocol. It was created to provide a uniform way for video content to be transferred from ad servers to video players on web pages. For details, see the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s VAST documentation.