General Terminology

This glossary provides a quick reference to essential terms in programmatic advertising, aiding in better understanding and communication within the digital advertising landscape.

1. DSP (Demand-Side Platform): A system that allows buyers of digital advertising inventory to manage multiple ad exchange and data exchange accounts through one interface.

2. SSP (Supply-Side Platform): A system that enables web publishers and digital out-of-home media owners to manage, sell, and optimize available inventory (ad space) on their websites and mobile apps.

3. Ad Exchange: A digital marketplace that enables advertisers and publishers to buy and sell advertising space, often through real-time auctions.

4. RTB (Real-Time Bidding): A method of buying and selling online ad impressions through real-time auctions that occur in the time it takes a webpage to load.

5. CPM (Cost Per Mille): The cost per 1,000 impressions of an ad, a common pricing model in digital advertising.

6. CPC (Cost Per Click): A pricing model where advertisers pay each time a user clicks on their ad.

7. CPA (Cost Per Action): A pricing model where advertisers pay for a specified action, such as a purchase or sign-up.

8. Pixel Tracking: A tracking method that involves embedding a small piece of code on a website to collect data on user actions.

9. Postback Tracking: A server-to-server tracking method that securely and accurately sends data directly from the advertiser's server to the tracking server.

10. Audience Segmentation: The process of dividing a broad consumer or business market into sub-groups of consumers based on some type of shared characteristics.

11. Lookalike Audiences: Audiences that resemble your existing customers, categorized into three levels: none (broad reach), somewhat similar (moderate reach), and very similar (narrow reach).

12. Frequency Capping: Limiting the number of times an ad is shown to the same user to avoid overexposure.

13. Ad Scheduling: Setting specific times or dates for ad delivery to maximize engagement and effectiveness.

14. Whitelist: A list of approved publishers where ads are allowed to appear.

15. Blacklist: A list of publishers where ads are excluded from appearing.

16. Cross-Device Targeting: Reaching the same user across multiple devices, such as desktop, mobile, and tablet.

17. Viewability: A metric that tracks whether an ad was actually seen by a user.

18. Attribution: The process of identifying which actions or touchpoints contributed to a desired user action, such as a purchase.

19. Creative Optimization: Adjusting ad creatives in real-time based on performance data to improve effectiveness.

20. Brand Safety: Ensuring that ads do not appear in contexts that could harm the advertiser's brand.

21. Fill Rate: The percentage of ad requests that are successfully filled with ads.

22. Click-Through Rate (CTR): The ratio of users who click on an ad to the number of total users who view the ad.

23. Conversion Rate: The percentage of users who take a desired action after clicking on an ad.