Glossary

The number of unique users exposed to an ad within a specified time period

Ad banners (also known as banner ads) are one of the most dominant forms of advertising on the internet. Banner ads are a form of display advertising that can range from a static graphic to full motion video.

The user activity of pressing a navigation button or hitting the enter key on the keyboard on an advertisement unit on a Web site (banner, button or text link).

A pixel request embedded in an ad tag which calls a web server for the purpose of tracking that a user has viewed a particular ad.

When an ad is successfully displayed on the user's computer screen.

An ad exchange is a sales channel between publishers and ad networks that can also provide aggregated inventory to advertisers. They provide a technology platform that facilitates automated auction based pricing and buying in real-time. Ad exchanges' business models and practices may include features that are similar to those offered by ad networks.

Ad impressions are the count of ads which are served to a user. Ads can be requested by the user's browser (referred to as pulled ads) or they can be pushed, such as e-mailed ads.

In a formal sense, ad impressions are a measurement of responses from an ad delivery system to an ad request from the user's browser, which is filtered for robotic activity and is recorded at a point as late as possible in the process of delivery of the creative material to the user's browser -- therefore closest to the actual opportunity to be seen by the user. Two methods are used to deliver ad content to the user Server-initiated. The publisher's web content server for making requests, formatting and re-directing content Client-initiated. Ad counting relies on the user's browser to perform these activities. For organizations that use a server-initiated ad counting method, counting should occur subsequent to the ad response at either the publisher's ad server or the Web content server. For organizations using a client-initiated ad counting method, counting should occur at the publisher's ad server or third-party ad server, subsequent to the ad request, or later, in the process.

Click-throughs divided by ad impressions.

When an ad is inserted in a document and recorded by the ad server.

The aggregate number of opportunities near publisher content to display advertisement to visitors.

Ad networks provide an outsourced sales capability for publishers and a means to aggregate inventory and audiences from numerous sources in a single buying opportunity for media buyers. Ad networks may provide specific technologies to enhance value to both publishers and advertisers, including unique targeting capabilities, creative generation, and optimization. Ad networks’ business models and practices may include features that are similar to those offered by ad exchanges.

The request for an advertisement as a direct result of a user's action as recorded by the ad server. Ad requests can come directly from the user’s browser or from an intermediate Internet resource, such as a Web content server.

Is a program run by Google Inc. that allows publishers in the Google Network of content sites to serve automatic text, image, video, and rich media adverts that are targeted to site content and audience.

An ad server is a web server dedicated to the delivery of advertisement. This specialization enables the tracking and management of advertising related metrics.