Keeping up with the digital industries’ buzzwords can be a challenge, and a lot has changed in digital advertising since we last published a display glossary back in 2014.
If you’re anything like us you’ve probably promised to yourself, like every other January, that this year will be the year you stay ahead of the game.
Well we’ve made it easy for you. All the new (and the old!) digital advertising acronyms or buzzwords in one handy glossary. You can thank us later.
Ad Exchange - A digital marketplace where advertisers can buy advertising space in real time. Ad exchanges are essentially giant pools of ad impressions that can be accessed via DSPs and SSPs.
AdX - DoubleClick Ad Exchange - Google’s digital marketplace.
AAP - Amazon Advertising Platform. Amazon’s own DSP, where advertisers can buy Amazon-owned ad space such as IMDB and amazon.com.
APP - Appnexus programmable platform - Appnexus’s new DSP.
AMS - Amazon Marketing Services. Allows advertisers to promote their products with display and search ads on Amazon search pages.
ATF - Above the fold. ATF ads are visible on the screen when you first visit a page, without needing to scroll down.
AVOC - A video metric that measures if an ad was Audible and Visible On Complete. (See CIVA).
Black List - A list of places where you do not want your ads to run. With a blacklist, your ads will run anywhere but the URLs or apps you have listed.
Bot - An application that performs an automated task over the internet. In digital marketing, bots are often associated with ad fraud.
Brand Safety - refers to the practices and tools that ensure an ad will not appear in a context that can damage the advertisers brand.
BTF - Below the fold. BTF ads are only visible on a page once a user has scrolled down.
Bumper Ad - 6 second video ads that are offered by TrV to complement video campaigns and help extend reach.
Cookie - A piece of data that is sent to a user’s browser when they visit a website. This data can store information about the user and their browsing behaviour. The information is attached to a browser, not an individual, and cannot work on mobile devices.
CIVA - Released in 2017 as an automated bidding option, DBM will optimise towards video impressions that are ‘Complete In View and Audible (CIVA) or Time On Screen >10 secs (TOS)’. (Also referred to as AVOC).
CPA - Cost Per Acquisition.
CPC - Cost Per Click.
CPI - Cost Per Install. This is specific for mobile app install campaigns.
CPM - Cost Per Thousand Impressions.
CTA - Call to Action. A button on an ad that induces the viewer to perform a specific task e.g. ‘Buy Now’, ‘Find Out More’.
CTR - Click Through Rate.
Google Data Studio - A data visualisation program that allows you to combine cross platform campaign data and visually enhance your reporting. Not to be confused with…
DoubleClick Studio – A tool used to create rich media creatives for use in DCM.
DBM - DoubleClick Bid Manager. Where programmatic campaign bids and targeting strategies are set. PMPs and PG deals can also be arranged using DBM.
DCM - DoubleClick Campaign Manager. Here, creatives are held for the advertiser and can be trafficked to DBM. Floodlight pixels can also be set up to track campaign performance. We can also create audience lists for remarketing in DCM.
DFP - DoubleClick for Publishers.
DMP - Data Management Platform- a centralised platform that allows you to create target audiences based on a combination of 1st and 3rd party data. Different to a DSP how? A DMP is used to store and analyse data, while a DSP is used to buy advertising based on that information.
DSP - A Demand Side Platform is used by advertisers and agencies to help them buy display, video, mobile and search ad slots in an automated fashion. DSPs read bid signals sent from publishers via SSPs to assess the price, viewability, brand suitability and many other factors before deciding whether to bid on an ad slot.
Dynamic - A buzzword used for many things but most commonly refers to a type of remarketing strategy that allows advertisers to show personalized creatives to individual users. (Learn about how dynamic ads improve campaign performance here).
GA - Google Analytics. A free web analytics service offered by Google that can provide powerful insights into campaign activities, that DBM and DCM reporting tools cannot.
GA360 - The premium, paid version of GA. Most of the powerful analytical ability of GA is only accessible through GA360.
GDN - Google Display Network.
GDPR - General Data Protection Regulation. A new data protection regulation released by the EU for early 2018 adoption. The GDPR is intended to strengthen data protection regulation and give individuals more control over how their personal data is being used. (Click here for guidance on the GDPR).
GP - Google Preferred is the name for the TrueView inventory package that offers advertisers the top 5% of YouTube content.
GWD - Google Web Designer is the platform offered by Google that advertisers can use to build creative ads.
HTML5 - A type of code that can be used to build rich media creatives that can run on desktop, smartphones and tablet. As of January 2017, HTML5 has completely replaced flash creatives as the file type of choice for DoubleClick.
IAB - Interactive Advertising Bureau is the digital advertising trade association. The IAB promotes best practices for advertisers, publishers and agencies. Not to be confused with…
IAS - Integral Ad Science. A 3rd party vendor that provides verification and analytical services to campaigns. Use cases include additional brand safety targeting and analysis.
Leader board - The name given to the display ad size 728x90.
MPU - Mid Page Unit is the name given to 300x250 display ads.
Native - A relatively new ad format that is designed to mimic the content or platform that it appears against. The idea being that native ads help to improve user experience by naturally linking ads and content.
PG - Programmatic Guaranteed. PG deals involve programmatic buying of reservation type inventory. Advertisers commit to spend in advance, in exchange for a ‘guaranteed’ volume of impressions.
PMP - Private Marketplace deal. A PMP is an invite only marketplace where high calibre publishers offer their ad inventory to a select group of advertisers.
Preferred Deal - A programmatic direct deal with a fixed CPM, usually between one buyer and one publisher.
PTV - Programmatic TV. A data driven automated method of buying and delivering ads for TV content.
ROAS - Return On Ad Spend. ROAS measures gross revenue generated for every pound spent on advertising.
- ROAS = revenue from ad campaign / cost of ad campaign
ROI - Return On Investment. ROI measures the profit generated by ads relative to the cost of those ads.
- ROI = revenue - costs / costs
RON - Run Of Network. A RON line item has very limited targeting, and has a very wide reach and low CPM. RON line items can be used to create very simple tests, such as age or gender targeting analysis.
ROS - Run-of-site. Where an ad runs across an entire site, often at a lower cost than when a specific sub section of a site is targeted.
Skyscraper - The name given to the display ad size 160x600.
SSP - A Supply Side Platform is used by publishers to sell advertising in an automated fashion. Where a DSP is used by marketers to buy ad impressions from exchanges as efficiently as possible, SSPs are designed to help publishers maximise the prices at which their impressions sell.
TrV - TrueView refers to the video advertising sold by Google and run though YouTube. These can include in-stream ads, discovery or bumper ads.
vCPM - Cost per thousand viewable impressions.
(Ad) Verification – Services that check that the ads you are serving are appearing in the places that you want them to. Ad verification providers can also keep a check on your campaign’s viewability and that they are meeting your brand safety requirements.
Viewability - An ad served doesn’t necessarily mean an ad viewed, and viewability is a way of assessing how much an ad has been seen by users. A display ad is viewable when 50% of it is in view on the screen for a minimum of 1 second. A video ad is slightly different; it must be at least 50% in view for a minimum of 2 consecutive seconds.
VOD - Video on Demand (e.g. All4, ITV Player) which is now available to buy programmatically.
VTR - Used when reporting on videos, View Through Rate is the number of completed views a skippable ad generated, divided by the number of impressions it received.
- TrueView Views / Impressions = VTR
White List - A list of places where you know you want your ads to run. With a whitelist in place, your ads will run only on the sites and URLs designated and nowhere else.
XML - A type of file that can be used to store instructions for dynamic creatives, such as which product image to show an individual or what discount code to apply.
If you think we’ve missed something, or would like to know more about any of the above, give us a call!
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