Glossary

Also known as: user segment, segment An audience segment is a list of user profiles in which individual internet users are grouped together based on shared characteristics. Those characteristics can include behavioural…

Also known as: display ad A banner ad is a broad term for an image or media-rich display ad served to users on websites. The format encompasses everything from simple static images to animated or interactive creatives,…

Also known as: in-store beacon A beacon is a Bluetooth-based device that communicates with nearby mobile phones and tablets. When deployed inside a brick-and-mortar retail store, beacons can push in-store promotions…

Information collected about the online actions of users. Behavioral data typically includes past searches, browsing history, time spent on a website, ads clicked, and other signals generated through interactions with…

Also known as: online behavioral advertising (OBA) Behavioral targeting is a form of ad targeting that serves ads to users based on behavioural data collected about them. Rather than targeting based solely on the…

A bid request is a message sent from a supply-side platform (SSP) or ad exchange to a bidder — typically a component of a demand-side platform (DSP) — signalling that an ad impression is available for auction. Each bid…

A bidder is a core component of a Demand-Side Platform (DSP) responsible for analyzing incoming bid requests and submitting bids within Real-Time Bidding (RTB) auctions. When an ad impression becomes available, the…

A bidding strategy is the approach a demand-side platform (DSP) uses to determine how its bidder should place bids in a real-time bidding (RTB) auction. It defines the logic — whether rule-based or algorithmic — that…

Also known as: exclusion list A blacklist is a list of publishers or websites that an advertiser does not want to buy ad space on. In programmatic advertising, buyers can supply a blacklist to their demand-side platform…

A campaign is a coordinated set of ideas or a common theme used to market a specific brand or product. In a general marketing context, it encompasses the creative concept, messaging, and channels that work together…

With privacy-centred themes dominating the headlines, 2018 could reasonably be called the year of privacy — and it was a genuinely busy period for the AdTech and MarTech industry. GDPR and broader privacy concerns sent…

A click is an engagement metric that records every instance of a user clicking on an ad. Importantly, a click is counted regardless of whether the user successfully reaches the destination — if the target website is…

Also known as: CTR Click-through rate is the percentage of ad impressions that result in a click. It is calculated as: CTR = number of clicks ÷ number of impressions CTR is one of the core metrics for evaluating ad…

Also known as: cloud-based software, software-as-a-service (SaaS) A network of connected servers accessed remotely over the internet. Rather than running software on a local machine or privately owned infrastructure,…

A consent-management platform (CMP) is a technical tool that enables websites to meet regulatory requirements around consent collection. With a CMP in place, a website can inform visitors about the types of data it…

A content delivery network is a globally distributed network of proxy servers deployed across multiple data centres, designed to serve content to end users with minimum latency and fast load times. By caching content at…

Information describing the contents of a web page. Contextual data typically includes the page URL, keywords, categories, and tags — the signals that indicate what a page is actually about. In advertising, contextual…

An ad targeting approach that serves relevant ads based on the content of the page being viewed, rather than on data collected about the individual visitor. A travel advertiser appearing on a travel editorial, or a car…

Also known as: acquisition, action A conversion is an action taken by a user in direct response to an ad or message shown to them. Common examples include signing up for a service, filling in a form, completing a…

A conversion pixel is a small piece of tracking code — typically a 1×1 transparent image or a JavaScript snippet — placed on a specific web page in order to record when a user completes a desired action. Common…

Conversion rate (CVR) is the percentage of ad clicks that result in a conversion — meaning the user completed a desired action after clicking, such as making a purchase, signing up, or filling out a form. Formula: > CVR…

Also known as: web cookie, HTML cookie A cookie is a small text file saved by a browser and stored on a user's device, containing pieces of information about that user. Cookies are a foundational element of online…

Also known as: cookie matching, cookie mapping, ID syncing, ID matching, user-ID mapping Cookie syncing is the process of sharing a user identifier stored in a cookie between two or more platforms, allowing those…

Also known as: cost per acquisition A campaign pricing model in which an advertiser pays only when a user completes a defined conversion event — such as downloading a file or submitting a form registration. The formula…