Digital Advertising

insertion order (I/O)

a contract through which ad inventory is sold; typically has multiple line items

line item

a discrete element sold on an I/O; corresponds to a variety of attributes within a publisher's inventory management system (e.g., Entertainment>Women>18-34)

viewable

a display ad designation achieved if a consumer can see half of it for at least one second; or in the case of video, two seconds

performance-based advertising

a form of advertising in which the buyer pays only when there are measurable results; easier to measure ROI and thus may command higher CPMs, but not guaranteed and thus higher-risk for publishers

brand-based advertising

a form of advertising used to build a connection between a user and an advertiser over time; accounts for the majority of ad spend (guaranteed, usually higher quality), but more difficult for advertisers to measure success

exit rate

a metric in web traffic analysis that measures the % of website views that were the LAST one of the session

bounce rate

a metric in web traffic analysis that measures the % of website views that were the ONLY one of the session

publisher

a party who integrates advertisements into its online content

advertiser

a party who provides the advertisements to be displayed on a publisher's content

banner blindness

a phenomenon in web usability where visitors to a website consciously or subconsciously ignore banner-like information

API (application programming interface)

a set of routines, protocols, and tools for building software applications; specifies how software components should interact

deal ID

a unique string of characters that is used in a PMP to match up specific buyers and sellers based on mutually-agreed rules; has become synonymous/interchangeable with PMP

geofence

a virtual geographic boundary (defined by GPS or RFID technology) that enables software to trigger a response when a mobile device enters or leaves a particular area

premium guaranteed inventory

ad space that a publisher has deemed higher-quality, and subsequently attempts to sell at a higher price; accounts for the vast majority of ad revenue

second party data

an amalgamation of statistics related to cookie pools on external publications and platforms

programmatic direct

an automated buying process of assured ad inventory that isn't auction-based (a/k/a "programmatic guaranteed" or "programmatic premium")

PMP (private marketplace)

an invite-only marketplace where premium publishers offer their ad inventory to a selected group of advertisers; giving publishers tighter control over the ads on their site (compared to an open marketplace)

ad network

an online arbitrage platform, which aggregates available ad inventory across a large collection of publishers, segments it (geo, age, gender, etc.), marks it up, and sells slices of it to advertisers / agencies (e.g., Google's AdSense, Collective Media, AOL's Advertising.com)

ad exchange

an online marketplace where publishers, advertisers, agencies, ad networks, and DSPs can buy and sell ad inventory; it works by auctioning each impression to the highest bidder (e.g., DoubleClick, MoPub, OpenX)

data broker

an organization that collects and sells information for a variety of purposes including for identity verification, fraud prevention, credit risk assessment, and marketing; typically operates "behind-the-scene" without direct interaction with consumers

third party data

data sourced from external providers and often aggregated from numerous websites; frequently sold and shared by businesses

UI (user interface)

everything designed into an application, website, or device with which a person may interact

sponsorship inventory

goal-based, high-priority line items through which advertisers purchase a certain share of page views on a publisher site (as a % of requests) over a certain period of time

non-guaranteed basis

if inventory is available that matches, it will be sold, but the seller doesn't make any guarantees on volume

footfall

measures the number of people who enter a shop or business in a particular period of time

ATDs (agency trading desks)

media buyer and re-sellers which function as an independent unit within an ad agency to help advertisers execute programmatic media buys, using either proprietary technology or a DSP to buy and optimize media campaigns on ad exchanges, ad networks, and other inventory sources

OTT (over-the-top) content

media that bypasses traditional film and TV content distribution in favor of "cord-cutting" and consuming via the internet (example devices include Smart TVs, gaming systems, and mobile devices)

win rate

metric that measures the % of impressions won over the number of impressions bid; high rates indicate either low competition, relatively aggressive bids, or selective inventory

DMPs (data management platforms)

online systems that allow all parties involved in media buying and selling to manage proprietary data, facilitate the usage of third-party data, or port audience data to other platforms

DSPs (demand-side platforms)

online systems that give buyers of digital ad inventory direct RTB access to trade, manage, optimize, and bid for digital ad inventory; directed at advertisers

SSPs (supply-side platforms)

online systems that help publishers better manage and price their ad inventory (a/k/a yield managers/optimizers); directed at (large) publishers (e.g., Rubicon, Admeld, Pubmatic)

impression

opportunity to show an advertisement to a person

CPI (cost per install)

payment method for mobile applications in which advertisers are charged a fixed rate when the app is installed

CPM (cost per 1,000 impressions)

payment method in which advertisers are charged based on the number of views an add receives (in '000s)

CPE (cost per engagement)

payment method in which advertisers are charged not simply when an ad unit loads on a page, but when a viewer actually saw and/or interacted with the ad

CPV (cost per view)

payment method in which advertisers are charged when a video is viewed (e.g., YouTube)

CPC (cost per click)

payment method in which advertisers are only charged when an add is clicked on

revenue sharing

pricing methodology in which the cost of advertising is determined by the revenue generated as a result of the ad itself

ATF (above the fold)

refers to the portions of a webpage that are visible to visitors without scrolling; typically considered premium and is therefore more expensive

RPM

revenue per 1,000 advertisement impressions; useful for revenue comparisons across different channels

contextual targeting

shows the user content similar to what's on the page that they are currently browsing (e.g., a sports ad on ESPN.com)

SVOD (subscription video on-demand)

subscription-based access to video content (e.g., Netflix)

non-linear TV

television service where consumers can watch desired programming on-demand and through various media

linear TV

television service where the viewer has to watch a scheduled program at a particular time and on a particular channel

viewability

the % of a video ads pixels that were in view at the time it played

completed views

the % of video ads that have completely played

programmatic media buying

the automation of the ad buying and optimization process in real-time; more efficient, transparent, and cost effective than conventional digital ad buying

ad inventory

the base unit sold by a publisher to an advertiser (real estate to show ads); measured in "impressions"

audience targeted inventory

the buying of ad space that targets a specific audience segment, without knowing exactly where the ads are placed

RTB (real-time bidding)

the mechanism by which ad inventory is bought and sold on a per-impression basis, via programmatic auction in real-time (similar to financial markets)

click-through rate (CTR)

the ratio of users who click on a specific link to the # of total users who view a page, email, or ad; used to measure the success of an online ad campaign

ad server

the technology and equipment that delivers an ad to potential customers, facilitating ad trafficking and reporting on performance; part of an ad network (e.g., DoubleClick/Google, Microsoft Atlas)

retargeting

the use of cookies to send targeted ads to someone who previously displayed some kind of intent (e.g., after viewing but not buying a product on Amazon)

native ad

type of ad that is consistent with the form, style, and voice of the platform they appear on (e.g., Twitter, Facebook); tend to lift ad performance and drive better user experiences

banner ad

type of digital ad that appears in a block of space usually adjacent to content; standard is 300x250 in the upper right-hand corner of the webpage

interstitial ad

type of digital ad that displays before a user can access requested content; usually occupies the entire browser for a certain period of time

pop-under ad

type of digital ad that opens in new window containing advertising behind the active browser window

pop-up ad

type of digital ad that opens in new window containing advertising in front of the active browser window

wallpaper ad

type of digital ad that takes over the background of the hosting page

in-text ad

type of digital ad where certain words are automatically linked to a sponsoring website

post-roll

type of video advertisement that runs after the desired video content; can deliver value as a "call-to-action" after a video

pre-roll

type of video advertisement that runs ahead of the desired video content; risk of losing viewers, but studies have found it to be successful

mid-roll

type of video advertisement that runs during the desired video content; enjoy a higher completion rate than other types as consumers are more comfortable with them

remnant inventory

unsold ad inventory on a publisher site; larger publishers often sell all of it through ad networks at very low CPMs

behavioral targeting

uses cookies to determine the best ads to deliver to a user based on her browsing history, geographic location, spending habits, etc. (e.g., a clothing ad on an insurance company's website)

first party data

usually cookie-based information collected by the advertiser itself about its audience (e.g., from consumer behavior, actions, or interests); the most valuable type of consumer data

AVOD (advertising video on-demand)

video model that is free for the users, provided that they watch ads in addition to the available content (e.g., YouTube)

TVOD (transactional video on-demand)

video service where users don't pay any subscription costs, but rather pay based on amount of content watched/consumed (e.g., iTunes)

long-form video

videos that are over 10 minutes

short-form video

videos that are under 10 minutes

guaranteed basis

when a buyer contracts with a seller for a fixed volume of inventory between specific dates; this is the preferred method of advertisers and publishers primarily due to predictability

first look

when an ad exchange gives priority to a group of buyers

last look

when an ad exchange has the chance to outbid whichever demand source would have otherwise won in a programmatic auction