AdTech Knowledge Base
Master programmatic advertising with our comprehensive library of 50 essential strategies, guides, and technical definitions.
Header Bidding
Advanced programmatic technique where publishers offer inventory to multiple ad exchanges simultaneously.
Google Ad Exchange (AdX)
A premium programmatic ad marketplace that offers higher CPMs than standard AdSense.
eCPM (Effective Cost Per Mille)
The ad revenue generated per 1,000 impressions, a key metric for publisher yield.
First-Price Auction
An auction model where the highest bidder wins and pays exactly what they bid.
Second-Price Auction
An auction model where the winner pays one cent more than the second-highest bid.
SSP (Supply-Side Platform)
Software used by publishers to sell digital ad impressions in automated auctions.
DSP (Demand-Side Platform)
Software used by advertisers to buy mobile, search, and video ads from a marketplace.
DMP (Data Management Platform)
A centralized system for gathering first-party, second-party, and third-party audience data.
Prebid.js
An open-source library that allows publishers to implement header bidding on their websites.
VAST (Video Ad Serving Template)
An IAB specification for serving video ads across different video players.
VPAID (Video Player-Ad Interface Definition)
Allows interactive video ad experiences and viewability measurement.
CTV (Connected TV)
Television sets connected to the internet, representing a massive growth area in programmatic video.
Viewability
A metric that tracks whether an ad was actually seen by a human user.
Fill Rate
The percentage of ad requests that are successfully filled with an advertisement.
Floor Price
The minimum price a publisher will accept for an ad impression.
Programmatic Direct
A direct deal negotiated between a publisher and advertiser, executed programmatically.
PMP (Private Marketplace)
An invite-only auction where premium publishers offer inventory to select buyers.
Open Auction
The public ad marketplace where any DSP can bid on available publisher inventory.
Ads.txt
Authorized Digital Sellers, an IAB initiative to prevent domain spoofing and ad fraud.
App-ads.txt
The mobile app equivalent of ads.txt, designed to prevent inventory fraud in the app ecosystem.
S2S (Server-to-Server) Bidding
Running header bidding auctions on a server rather than in the user's browser to reduce latency.
Bid Density
The number of bids received for a given ad request, a strong indicator of demand.
Bid Response Time
How quickly a bidder responds to an ad request; slow responses lead to timeouts.
Ad Refresh
Automatically reloading an ad unit after a certain time or trigger to increase impressions.
Lazy Loading
Only loading ads when they are about to come into the user's viewport to improve page speed.
Native Advertising
Ads designed to match the visual look and feel of the platform they appear on.
Outstream Video
Video ads that appear outside of video content, typically within articles or feeds.
Instream Video
Video ads that play before (pre-roll), during (mid-roll), or after (post-roll) video content.
SDK (Software Development Kit)
A set of tools used by developers to integrate ad networks into mobile apps.
Rewarded Video
An ad format where users opt-in to watch a video in exchange for in-app rewards.
Banner Ads
The standard image or rich media display ad format used across the web.
Rich Media
Ads containing interactive elements like video, audio, or expansion.
CPM (Cost Per Mille)
The price an advertiser pays for 1,000 ad impressions.
CPC (Cost Per Click)
A pricing model where advertisers pay each time a user clicks their ad.
CTR (Click-Through Rate)
The percentage of users who click on an ad after seeing it.
RPM (Revenue Per Mille)
Estimated earnings per 1,000 pageviews, a holistic metric for publishers.
Ad Server
Technology that stores, delivers, and tracks digital advertisements.
Google Ad Manager (GAM)
Google's comprehensive ad server platform for large publishers.
Line Item
A specific campaign within an ad server detailing flight dates, targeting, and pricing.
Dynamic Allocation
A GAM feature that allows AdX to compete with other line items on a price basis.
Open Bidding
Google's server-side alternative to client-side header bidding within GAM.
Price Floors
Setting minimum CPMs to protect the value of your premium inventory.
First-Party Data
Data a publisher collects directly from their own audience.
Third-Party Cookies
Tracking cookies set by domains other than the one the user is visiting.
Contextual Targeting
Serving ads based on the content of the page rather than user behavior data.
MFA (Made for Advertising)
Sites created solely to maximize ad arbitrage, generally considered low-quality inventory.
IVT (Invalid Traffic)
Traffic generated by bots or accidental clicks that does not represent real human intent.
View-Through Attribution
Crediting a conversion to an ad impression even if the user didn't click it.
SPO (Supply Path Optimization)
The process advertisers use to find the most efficient path to purchase publisher inventory.
Consent Management Platform (CMP)
Software that helps publishers comply with privacy laws like GDPR and CCPA.