Media Platforms & Technology Glossary
Media Platforms & Technology
Above the Fold
Web content visible without having to scroll down the page. Considered more premium because it is generally more viewable inventory.
Media Platforms & Technology
Ad Exchanges
A marketplace platform that facilitates automated, auction-based buying and selling of ad inventory from the various ad networks. Ad exchanges operate in real time, and inventory is bought as needed.
Media Platforms & Technology
Ad Fraud
Any deliberate activity that prevents the proper delivery of ads to the intended audience in the intended place. Occurs when perpetrators generate fake activity in order to generate ad revenue. Common fraud techniques include bot activity, cloaked URLs, and unviewable ads hiding behind other content.
Media Platforms & Technology
Ad Impressions
The total number of times a digital advertisement is displayed on screen and counted. See viewability for additional measurement overlay.
Media Platforms & Technology
Ad Network
A third-party company that connects websites that want to monetize their ad inventory with the appropriate advertisers. Ad networks aggregate publishers into content categories (travel, home and garden, sports) and then find the corresponding advertisers who want to buy that ad inventory at a high volume for a lower price, enabling advertisers to forego site-direct […]
Media Platforms & Technology
Ad Server
A technology and service that determines instantaneously what ads show up on a website and then serves those ads. Ad servers are used by publishers, advertisers, and ad networks to push their advertisements to desired ad inventory and measure the success and progress of different campaigns.
Media Platforms & Technology
Affiliate Marketing
Businesses hire affiliates to promote their product(s) and compensate those affiliates for each customer the affiliate brings in.
Media Platforms & Technology
Agency Trading Desk
A managed service layer of a larger agency, most often on top of a demand-side platform (DSP) partner and other audience buying technologies. Manages programmatic, bid-based media, and audience buying for the agency.
Media Platforms & Technology
Allow List
A list of pre-approved domains that a brand has deemed acceptable for its advertising to appear on. Leveraged as a tool for advertisers to manage brand safety, an allow list provides significant control, limiting the appearance of ads to domains with content the advertiser feels aligns with their brand. However, an allow list can dramatically […]
Media Platforms & Technology
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
The theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, etc.
Media Platforms & Technology
Attribution
The identification of a set of user actions (“events” or “touchpoints”) that contribute to a desired outcome (“conversion”) and the assignment of value to each of these actions. Attribution reflects the touchpoints along the customer journey that may have impacted purchase and is correlative rather than causal. It answers the question: “What touchpoints were associated […]
Media Platforms & Technology
Auction (First-Price vs. Second-Price)
In a first-price auction, the highest bidder determines the impression price. In a second-price auction, the second-highest bidder determines the price of an impression.
Media Platforms & Technology
Audience
A specific group of consumers who are most likely to want a product or service, based on their age, gender, income, geolocation, interests, purchase intention, or other factors. Advertisers seek out the audiences most likely to be receptive to an ad campaign.
Media Platforms & Technology
Audience Validation
Brand metrics report on desired audience composition and reach. Confirms your marketing budget reached your target audience by comparing campaign exposure to the demographics of the audience reached. The latter can be measured either through third party or panel data.
Media Platforms & Technology
Awareness
Refers to the moment a consumer learns about a brand’s product or service. Awareness campaigns enable marketers to get in front of customers with messaging that puts the brand front and center, so it’s noticed. When looking at the marketing funnel, this is the first point of engagement with new consumers along the customer journey. […]
Media Platforms & Technology
Awareness Campaign
Ad campaign that aims to educate customers on the existence of a brand of product.
Media Platforms & Technology
Banner Display Ads
Banner ads that can include text, images, simple animation, and a URL linking to a website to learn more about a brand or product. Standard display ads are: 728×90 Leaderboard, and 160×600 Skyscraper, 300×250 Medium Rectangle. For more digital ad formats, see rich media, mobile ads, video ads, native ads, social ads, and connected TV […]
Media Platforms & Technology
Behavioral Advertising
Publishers and advertisers can reach their audiences more effectively based on observations of past web behavior. This is a key tenant of digital advertising, leveraging preferences and predictions to drive ad personalization.
Media Platforms & Technology
Below the Fold
Web content that is visible after scrolling down. Although it is often viewed as less premium inventory, if a website has engaging content, these ad units can be some of the most embedded onto the page, creating more opportunities for customer engagement.
Media Platforms & Technology
Bid Depth
The number of bids that exist for one particular impression.
Media Platforms & Technology
Bid eCPM
Average rate in a media buy. Calculated as the Effective Cost per Thousand (“mille”).