Here are some common terms and definitions in the digital advertising industry:
Ad: Short for “advertisement," an ad is a piece of digital content, typically an image or video, that promotes a product or service.
Ad Exchange: A platform that connects advertisers and publishers to buy and sell ad space through an automated bidding process. A marketplace that allows advertisers and publishers to buy and sell ad inventory in real time.
Ad Impressions: The number of times an ad is served to users.
Ad Inventory: The total amount of ad space available on a website, app, or another digital platform.
Ad Network: A company that aggregates ad space from multiple publishers and sells it to advertisers.
Ad Placement: The location on a website or app where an ad is displayed.
Ad Server: A technology platform that serves ads to users based on targeting criteria set by advertisers.
Ad Targeting: The process of selecting a specific audience for an ad based on demographic, geographic, behavioral, or contextual factors.
Ad Network: A platform that connects advertisers with publishers who have ad space on their website or app.
Ad Server: A technology that serves ads to users on behalf of advertisers.
Click-Through Rate (CTR): The percentage of people who click on an ad after seeing it.
Cost Per Action (CPA): The amount an advertiser pays for a specific action taken by a user, such as making a purchase or filling out a form. This is a pricing model where advertisers pay for each desired action, such as a sale or lead, that their ad generates.
Cost Per Click (CPC): The amount an advertiser pays each time someone clicks on their ad. This is a pricing model where advertisers pay for each click their ad receives.
Cost Per Impression (CPM): Cost per thousand impressions. The amount an advertiser pays for every 1,000 times their ad is displayed. This is a common pricing model for display advertising, where advertisers pay for every thousand impressions their ad receives.
Programmatic Advertising: The use of automated technology/software to buy and sell ad space/ad inventory in real time.
Retargeting: The process of showing ads to people who have previously interacted with a brand or website.
Viewability: A measure of whether an ad was actually seen by a user, often defined as the percentage of the ad that was visible on the screen for a certain amount of time.
Conversion Rate: The percentage of users who take a desired action, such as making a purchase or filling out a form, after clicking on an ad.
Native Advertising: A type of advertising that blends in with the content of the website or app it appears on.
Frequency: The number of times an ad is shown to a user.
