Ad Ecosystem
A group of platforms and software for hosting the automated exchange process of buying and selling advertisements through a machine-based ad network or marketplace.
Ad Exchange
An ad exchange is a neutral technology platform that facilitates the buying and selling of advertising inventory. Ad prices are determined through bidding in a real-time auction (also known as RTB (Real-Time Bidding)).
Ad Formats
A specification for advertising creative that often includes whether the ad will contain text, audio or graphical content, the size of the creative and the web-enabled device used to view the creative. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has defined standard ad formats, there are also native formats which are custom to a site.
Ad Inventory
The space available for advertisers to display their advertisements within the retail media network, which can include websites, apps, in-store displays, and more.
Ad Layout
The way the components of a banner (e.g., product images, prices, descriptions, titles) are organized within a banner.
Ad Placement
The specific location where an advertisement appears within the retail media network, such as at the top of a webpage, within search results, or through digital signage in a store.
Ad Tech
Technology solutions are designed to help advertisers create, place, manage, and analyze the performance of their digital advertisements.
Ad Type
The digital advertising types that brands utilize, include social media ads, search ads, display ads, native ads, and programmatic ads. Each ad type has its own benefits and requires its own strategy.
Advertising Server
The technology that gets ads in front of target audiences. These can be first-party (run by the same company whose site the ads will be displayed on) or third-party (run by an independent company to manage ad placements across numerous platforms).
Artificial Intelligence
A category of technologies that use computers to achieve functions usually associated with human intelligence such as reasoning, learning, and synthesizing information. It is often referred to as “AI.”
Attribution
Marketing attribution is how marketers assign credit for the success of their advertising campaigns. It evaluates the marketing touchpoints a consumer encounters on their path to a desired outcome (such as purchase). The goal of attribution is to determine which channels and messages had the greatest impact on the decision to take the desired action (such as click or conversion).
Audience
Also called Audience Segment, is a set of identifiers that share some attribute characteristics in common. Marketers use audiences as one engagement tactic to ensure they can focus their limited media budgets on the people most likely to generate a positive outcome for the marketers’ business.
Audience Management
The process of sourcing, managing, analyzing, defining, and activating customer data for cross-channel campaigns.
Audience SegmentationA marketing strategy based on identifying subgroups within the target audience in order to deliver more tailored messaging and build stronger connections.
Audience Targeting
The practice of using customer data to deliver more relevant advertisements to specific segments of the audience within the retail media network.
Behavioural Targeting
Also known as Online Behavioral Targeting (OBA) or Interest-based Advertising, generates an attribute from a consumer's prior activity, such as the number of pages visited about a particular topic or interactions with content (including ad clicks) associated with a particular brand.
Bidder
A component of a demand-side platform which receives and processes bid requests from a publisher’s supply-side platform.
Bid Price Optimization
Automatically adjusting the amount a marketer will bid on a particular impression due to a variety of inputs that define the value of that impression to the marketer.
Bid Request
A bid request is a piece of code used to sell display ads and inventory details. It allows visitors to see ads most suited to them, and for multiple advertisers to utilize the same ad spot on a given publisher’s platform.
Brand Affinity
The likelihood of positive sentiment among a brand and a number of other elements (pages, people, other brands).
Brand Marketing
The Process of establishing and growing a relationship between a brand and consumers.
Channels
A media channel refers to the specific medium where the advertiser's message will be viewed by its intended audience, often combining ad formats with specific devices (e.g., a video ad served within a social platform and viewed on a mobile device could be considered three channels). Online media channels often include search, display, mobile, social, and video streams.
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
Shows how often people who see your ad end up clicking on it. CTR is calculated by dividing the number of clicks on an ad by the number of impressions served.
Click/Click Through
Each time a consumer clicks on an ad and is taken to the designated endpoint (i.e. could be an advertiser's website).
Close-loop Measurement
Closed-loop measurement links exposure data from campaigns to transaction data, whether in-store or online.
Commerce
Online activities that relate to the buying and selling of goods and services, both online and in-store. This includes all touchpoints with a consumer from discovery through conversion that inform their decision and lead to a commerce outcome, such as a sale or signup.
Consumer
A consumer is a user browsing the internet, who sees and interacts with ads and who is looking to buy a product.
Contextual Targeting
Contextual targeting matches an ad to a page, based on its content. It enables advertisers to display ads to groups of consumers based on their interests and digital content.
Cookie
A small text file stored on the user's computer that enables web servers to fund and improve the experiences of people as they navigate across the web.
Cost of Sales (COS)
The ratio between the total cost of the campaign and the sales that the campaign generated. In other words, your ad cost as a percentage of revenue.
COS = Ad spend / Revenue driven
Cost per Click (CPC)
The amount of money that an advertiser pays to a search engine or website each time a user clicks on one of their ads. This model is used by most search engines and forms the cornerstone of search engine ad bidding.
Data Warehouse
Data warehouse is a large database often fed from multiple data stores.
Data Management Platform (DMP)
A software-based solution to collect, organize, and analyze data from various sources, enabling businesses to create targetable audience segments for ad campaigns.
Deal ID
A Deal Identifier is a unique number that usually consists of 19 characters and is generated by the publisher’s supply-side platform (or an ad server) for a programmatic direct deal (i.e. private auctions for private marketplaces, or preferred deals, or guaranteed deals). Deal ID enables media buyers to identify publishers in the auction and buy their premium inventories based on certain pre-negotiated terms.
Demand-Side Platform (DSP)
Technology platform used by marketers to achieve outcomes via targeting tactics, a centralized system for campaign management & reporting, plus access to a wide scale of inventory.
Digital Shelf
The online equivalent of the brick-and-mortar shopping experience. The digital shelf is where a brand's product is displayed online, and can include search results and product detail pages on retailer websites and apps, marketplaces, and other e-commerce channels.
Display Advertising
Display advertising is defined as visual ads placed on websites, social media networks, or apps. They are typically image, text, or video banner ads that when clicked on, take a user to a website or landing page. Display ads are most often found at the top, sides, and/or bottom of websites and apps.
Dynamic Ads
An ad automatically personalized for the consumer viewing it in order to create additional engagement and conversions.
Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO)
A technology that creates personalized ads based on data about the viewer at the moment of ad delivery, enabling more relevant and effective ads.
eCPM (Effective Cost Per Mille)
A metric that represents the effective cost per thousand impressions. It is calculated by dividing the total earnings from an ad campaign by the total number of impressions (in thousands). This metric helps advertisers and publishers understand the revenue generated per thousand ad impressions, making it useful for comparing the performance of different campaigns or ad placements.
eCommerce Advertising
Advertising that is specifically tailored to online retail environments. This involves placing ads within eCommerce platforms, such as on product pages, search results, or category listings. The goal is to drive product visibility and sales directly within the shopping experience, making it an integral part of retail media networks.
Email Retargeting
A marketing strategy that involves targeting users with ads based on their previous interactions with email campaigns. For example, if a user opens an email but does not make a purchase, they might be shown ads for the same product on other platforms they visit. Email retargeting helps to re-engage potential customers and drive conversions.
Engagement Rate
A measurement of how users interact with an ad, typically expressed as a percentage. It is calculated by dividing the total number of engagements (such as clicks, shares, comments, or likes) by the total number of impressions.
Enriched Data
Data that has been enhanced with additional attributes or information, such as demographic details, purchase history, or behavioral insights.Enriched data is used to create more accurate and effective audience segments, leading to better-targeted and more personalized ad campaigns.
Event Tracking
The process of monitoring and recording specific user interactions with a website or ad, such as clicks, downloads, form submissions, or purchases. Event tracking helps advertisers understand user behavior and measure the effectiveness of their ad campaigns by providing detailed insights into how users engage with ads and products.
Exclusive Marketplace
A type of private marketplace (PMP) where premium ad inventory is made available to a select group of advertisers, often through invitation only. This ensures that ads are placed in high-quality, brand-safe environments, which is particularly important for retailers aiming to maintain a strong brand image and avoid ad placements alongside inappropriate content.
Extended Reach
Refers to the ability to expand the audience of an ad campaign beyond the primary retail media network. Extended reach allows advertisers to connect with potential customers who may not have been reached through the core retail media network alone.
First Party Cookie
A small text file stored on the user's computer that is created by the website the user is currently visiting. Accessing this cookie while the visitor is on another website is a ‘third-party” use case.
First-Party Data
Data collected directly from customers by a retailer, such as purchase history or website behavior. This data is valuable for targeting and personalizing ad campaigns within retail media networks.
Footer Ad
An ad placed at the bottom of a webpage or app screen. In retail media networks, footer ads are used to capture user attention without being overly intrusive, often promoting related products or offers.
Fractional Attribution
A method of assigning credit to multiple touchpoints in a customer's journey, rather than just the last interaction. This approach gives a more accurate picture of how different ads and channels contribute to a conversion in commerce media networks.
Frequency Cap
A limit set by advertisers on the number of times a specific user is shown the same ad. This helps prevent ad fatigue and ensures a better user experience by avoiding overexposure.
Full-Funnel Marketing
A strategy that addresses the entire customer journey, from awareness to purchase. This involves using different ad formats and channels to engage users at various stages of their buying process.
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
A regulation in the European Union that governs data privacy and protection. Compliance with GDPR is crucial when handling user data for ad targeting and personalization.
Geotargeting
The practice of delivering ads to users based on their geographic location. They’re used to promote local store offers or region-specific products, driving foot traffic to physical locations.
Goal-Based Bidding
A bidding strategy where advertisers set specific objectives, such as conversions or clicks, and the ad platform automatically adjusts bids to meet those goals. This approach optimizes ad spend to achieve desired outcomes.
Granularity
The level of detail in data or targeting. Higher granularity allows advertisers to target specific audience segments with precision, making ad campaigns more effective by reaching users with highly relevant content.
Gross Rating Point (GRP)
A standard measure in advertising that reflects the reach and frequency of an ad campaign. GRP helps quantify the overall exposure of an ad to its target audience.
Guaranteed Inventory
Ad inventory that is reserved and sold directly to advertisers at a fixed price, ensuring placement within premium or highly desirable locations, such as high-traffic product pages.
Header Bidding
A programmatic advertising technique where publishers offer ad inventory to multiple ad exchanges simultaneously before making calls to their ad servers. This method increases competition among buyers, often leading to higher revenue for publishers and better ad placement opportunities for advertisers in retail media networks.
House Ads
Ads that a retailer uses to promote its own products or services within its own media properties. In Commerce retail media networks, house ads are often used to cross-promote items or highlight special deals directly on the retailer’s platform.
Hurdle Rate
The minimum acceptable return on investment (ROI) that an advertiser expects from an ad campaign. In retail media networks, the hurdle rate is used to evaluate whether an ad campaign is worth the investment based on expected sales or conversions.
Hybrid Auction
A type of auction in programmatic advertising that combines elements of both first-price and second-price auctions. It is used to optimize revenue while ensuring fair competition among advertisers.
Hyperlocal Targeting
A type of geotargeting that focuses on very small geographic areas, such as specific neighborhoods or even individual stores. Hyperlocal targeting is used to deliver highly relevant ads to users who are near a physical store, encouraging immediate visits or purchases.
Impressions
The number of times an ad is displayed to users, regardless of whether they interact with it. Impressions are a key metric for understanding the reach of an ad campaign.
Incrementality
A measure of the effectiveness of an ad campaign in generating additional outcomes, such as sales or conversions, that wouldn’t have occurred without the campaign. Incrementality helps determine the true impact of advertising efforts.
In-House Programmatic
The practice of managing programmatic ad buying internally rather than through an external agency. This allows retailers to have more control over their ad strategies and data.
In-Store Media
Advertising that is displayed within physical retail locations, such as digital screens or interactive kiosks. In-store media can be integrated with online retail media efforts to create an omnichannel experience for customers.
Interactive Ad
A type of ad that encourages user interaction, such as clicking, swiping, or playing a game. Interactive ads are often used to engage users more deeply and increase the likelihood of conversions.
Inventory
The available ad space that a retailer can sell to advertisers. It includes placements on websites, apps, and even physical stores.
Journey Mapping
The process of visualizing and understanding the customer’s path from initial awareness to purchase. It helps in creating targeted ad campaigns that address different stages of the customer journey.
Just-In-Time Bidding (JITB)
A bidding strategy where ad inventory is purchased in real-time based on the immediate availability of ad space and current bidding conditions. JITB helps ensure that ads are placed efficiently and cost-effectively.
Key Performance Indicator (KPI)
Metrics used to evaluate the success of an ad campaign or marketing strategy. These may include metrics such as click-through rates, conversion rates, or return on ad spend (ROAS).
Keyword Targeting
The practice of delivering ads based on specific keywords that users search for or interact with. This helps reach users who are actively interested in particular products or categories.
KPI Optimization
The process of adjusting ad campaigns and strategies to improve performance against predefined Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). This involves analyzing performance data and making data-driven decisions to achieve better results.
Lookalike Audiences
Targeting users who resemble an existing customer base, based on shared characteristics or behaviors. Lookalike audiences help advertisers find new customers who are likely to be interested in similar products or services.
Location-Based Targeting
Delivering ads based on a user’s physical location, using data from GPS or IP addresses.This approach is used to promote nearby stores or local offers, driving traffic to physical retail locations.
Lifetime Value (LTV)
The total revenue a customer is expected to generate over their entire relationship with a retailer. Understanding LTV helps in targeting and optimizing ad spend to attract and retain high-value customers.
Machine Learning (ML)
A type of artificial intelligence (AI) that allows systems to learn and improve from experience without being explicitly programmed, often used in predictive analytics and targeting in commerce media.
Market Segmentation
The process of dividing a broad consumer or business market into sub-groups based on shared characteristics, such as demographics, behaviors, or needs, to tailor marketing strategies more effectively.
Marketplace
A platform that facilitates the buying and selling of goods and services between multiple vendors and consumers. In commerce media, it often refers to online marketplaces like Amazon or eBay where ads can be placed.
Marketer
A marketer engages and grows customers for their organization’s products and services by matching content to desirable audiences. The function of marketing encompasses audience definition (who & where), content creation (what), budget and bid price allocation across media (how much), and content matching tactics (what & when) to drive improved outcomes (how well).
Measure
Media measurement quantifies the exposure and relative success of advertising campaigns against the goals and KPIs set out in the planning phase.
Measurement Data
Data derived from analyzing the performance of marketing campaigns across the marketing funnel. Some of the data points captured across the marketing funnel include; Impressions, page views, clicks, unique visits, leads, sales/purchases, repeat purchases.
Media Plan
Media planning is the process by which marketers determine who to engage, where to reach them, when to message, and how frequently to maximize engagements and ROI.
Media Buying
The process of purchasing advertising space or time on various platforms, ensuring that the ads reach the target audience at the right time and place, crucial for optimizing ad spend in commerce media networks.
Media Planning
The strategy of determining the most effective media platforms and timing to place ads to achieve marketing goals. It involves audience research, budget allocation, and performance analysis.
Media Network
An organization or platform that aggregates various media channels (TV, radio, digital, etc.) to offer comprehensive advertising solutions to brands, often used in commerce media to optimize reach and targeting.
Metadata
Data that describes other data, providing information about the content, structure, and administration of datasets. In commerce media, metadata is used to enhance ad targeting and content categorization.
Mindshare (marketing term)
Percent of an advertiser's pre-defined audience that is exposed to at least one ad. See Reach.
Mobile Advertising
A form of advertising that targets users on mobile devices through various formats such as banners, video ads, or in-app ads, increasingly important in commerce media due to the growth of mobile commerce.
Monetization
The process of converting a website, app, or service into a revenue-generating platform, often through advertising, subscriptions, or sales.
Multi-Touch Attribution
Type of attribution models that assign credit to multiple touchpoints (i.e., clicks) that precede sales or conversions. Linear or time-decay are typical multi-touch attribution models (as opposed to last-click or first-click models that give credit to a single touchpoint).
Multi-Channel Marketing
The practice of using multiple channels to reach and interact with consumers, such as social media, email, and websites. In commerce media, this approach ensures consistent messaging across various platforms.
Mid-Loaded (Pacing)
Mid-loaded is a pacing setting where the ad server will try to deliver more impressions around the midpoint of the campaign. After 30% of the time, 21% of the impression goal should have been reached. After 50% of the time, 50% of the goal should have been reached. And after 70% of the time, 79% of the goal should have been reached.
Native Advertising / Ads
Ads are designed to blend in with the content of the platform they appear on, providing a non-disruptive user experience. This format is popular in commerce media for its ability to engage audiences without overtly interrupting their activities.
Neural Networks
A subset of machine learning algorithms modeled after the human brain, used in commerce media for advanced data processing tasks such as predicting consumer behavior or optimizing ad placements.
Net Promoter Score (NPS)
A metric used to measure customer loyalty and satisfaction by asking how likely they are to recommend a company’s products or services. In commerce media, it can be used to gauge the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.
Next Generation Optimiser (NGO)
The Next Generation Optimiser (NGO) is an add-on on the smartx platform that collects and centralises data from deals and campaigns in one location. The NGO offers a simple way to keep track of deals and campaigns, allowing advertisers to optimise and monitor performance and to detect any anomalies in delivery. Optimization goals can be set up within a line item bundle or Demand Business Rule (DBR).
Non-Personalized Ads
Advertisements that are not tailored to individual users but are instead shown to a broad audience. These are often used in cases where user data is limited or for general brand awareness campaigns.
Omnichannel Marketing
An integrated approach to marketing that provides a seamless customer experience across all channels, both online and offline. In commerce media, it involves coordinating advertising efforts across multiple touchpoints.
Online Behavioral Advertising (OBA)
A practice where ads are targeted to users based on their previous online activity, such as website visits or searches. This approach is commonly used in commerce media networks to deliver relevant ads.
Open Auction
A programmatic advertising model where ad inventory is sold through a real-time auction, open to all bidders. It contrasts with private auctions or direct deals in commerce media networks.
Open Ad Exchange
In open ad exchanges, all advertisers have an equal opportunity to buy (either manually or programmatically) available ad inventory from publishers via an open auction. This contrasts with private marketplaces where publishers control who can access the exchange and participate in the auction. Publishers use open ad exchanges to sell remnant ad inventory at a low cost. There is no pre-agreed relationship between either party, and publishers can choose to withhold information, so the advertiser may not know which specific placements they are buying. For publishers, the low prices may be offset by advantages such as a large pool of buyers, the potential for high-volume sales, and the opportunity to generate revenue from inventory that may otherwise go unsold.
Optimization
The process of making adjustments to campaigns, content, or strategies to improve performance. In commerce media, optimization involves refining targeting, bidding, and creative elements to achieve better results.
Out-Stream Ads
Out-stream ads are video ads that play ‘out-stream’, i.e. outside of streaming online video content. They are video ads that appear in non-video text-based editorial content/articles or on social media feeds. Out-stream ads start playing when they are 50% in view (when the user scrolls over them) and will automatically pause when not in view. Appearing in various formats, including “in-text” or “in-swipe”, the ads typically play without sound, giving the user the option to unmute the ad. Publishers can offer out-stream ad placements even if their site doesn’t feature their own video content, allowing them to monetise more pages.
Opt-Out
A user’s choice to stop receiving behaviorally targeted ads.
Out-of-Home Advertising (OOH)
Advertising that reaches consumers while they are outside their homes, typically through billboards, transit ads, and other outdoor media.
Over-the-top (OTT)
Term used to describe both a type of content and the devices used to deliver content directly to users via the open internet. OTT delivery differs from IPTV delivery – both use the internet, but IPTV services use a privately managed content delivery network and OTT services use the open internet, the same as used for email and web browsing. OTT devices, which connect the viewing device to the internet, include smart TVs, smartphones, game consoles, and streaming devices such as Roku, Chromecast, Apple TV, or Firestick. OTT devices pull content from the internet at the request of the viewer, delivering it via specific apps in one single stream as VOD (video on demand), SVOD (subscription-based video on demand), or live content. Services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime are classed as OTT content providers – with a subscription, users can stream SVOD content via apps on their OTT device.
Online Video (OLV)
OLV is a video ad format commonly referred to in reference to video advertising on web and mobile app devices (as opposed to Connected TV devices).
Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
An online advertising model where advertisers pay a fee each time their ad is clicked. It is commonly used in search engine advertising and display ads to drive traffic to a website.
Performance Metrics
Quantitative measures used to evaluate the effectiveness and success of advertising campaigns. Common metrics include click-through rates (CTR), conversion rates, return on ad spend (ROAS), and cost per acquisition (CPA).
Personalization
The process of tailoring content, ads, and experiences to individual users based on their preferences, behavior, and demographics. In commerce media, personalization is key to enhancing user engagement and conversion rates.
Placements
Placements are the locations where advertisers choose to run ads on a website, web page, or mobile app, or in video content, or even within an individual ad unit.
Programmatic Mediation
A platform that allows media owners (typically app developers) to plug in multiple demand sources (historically ad networks) to compete for their inventory, usually in a waterfall setup.
Pixel
A small piece of code placed on a website that tracks user behavior, often used for retargeting and measuring the effectiveness of ads in commerce media networks.
Pixel Stuffing
A type of ad impression fraud where one or more ads are served in a display unit as small as 1×1 pixel. Although the ad server records it as an impression, the ad is too tiny to be seen or interacted with by users, meaning the advertiser pays for impressions that don't provide actual visibility or engagement.
Post-Roll
Post-roll video ads play immediately after a publisher’s video content. They are effective for encouraging viewers to take immediate action, as they don't interrupt the main content. Post-roll ads are available across various devices, including desktop, tablet, mobile, and smart TVs.
Post-Click Sales
Purchase made by a consumer on a website or mobile app within a certain period of time following the user clicking on an ad. This period of time varies but is typically a maximum of 30 days.
Predictive Bidding
AI-driven algorithm that adjusts the bid based on the current context and right time for each consumer.
Privacy Mesh
Technology solution designed to enable privacy-compliant data sharing and advertising. It allows organizations to leverage user data for targeted advertising while adhering to privacy regulations and protecting user identities. Privacy Mesh solutions often use techniques like anonymization and data aggregation to ensure that user information is not personally identifiable, thus supporting privacy compliance while facilitating effective advertising and analytics.
Premium Ad Inventory
Ad inventory that is considered to be of high quality and is therefore valued at a higher price.
Pre-Roll
Pre-roll video ads play just before the publisher's content begins. These ads are often seen as informative rather than intrusive, making them effective for driving metrics like brand awareness, engagement, favorability, and purchase intent. Pre-roll ads are available on desktop, tablet, mobile, and smart TVs.
Potential Reach
Use algorithms to optimize for greatest reach by impression and provides the number of users you could reach with your targeting selection.
Programmatic Advertising
The use of automated systems to buy and sell ad inventory in real-time, often through auctions. This technology is foundational to commerce media networks for efficiently managing large-scale ad campaigns.
Publisher
An individual or organization that creates and distributes content, such as websites or apps, where ads can be displayed. In commerce media, publishers are key partners in delivering ads to targeted audiences.
Private Marketplace
A private marketplace (PMP) is a controlled ad exchange where a publisher selectively invites advertisers or demand-side platforms (DSPs) to participate in closed auctions. The publisher sets terms like minimum pricing (floor pricing) for each participant. Unlike open ad exchanges, which are accessible to all advertisers, PMPs offer more exclusive and controlled access. Smartclip operates exclusively on a private marketplace basis. See also: Invitation-Only Auction, Open Ad Exchange.
Programmatic Guaranteed Deal
A programmatic guaranteed deal is a direct, one-to-one agreement between an advertiser and a publisher where both parties pre-agree on the number of impressions and the price. The advertiser commits to purchasing a specific number of impressions at a fixed price, and the publisher guarantees the delivery of those impressions. On platforms like smartx, the buyer sets minimal configurations, as delivery and targeting are managed on the publisher's side. The SSP applies the pre-agreed terms, including CPM, pacing, frequency capping, and targeting, ensuring the agreed impressions are delivered. Programmatic guaranteed deals are one of three types of programmatic direct deals on the smartx platform, alongside direct deals and direct guaranteed deals.
Purchase Behavior
Market segmentation of website traffic or CRM data that provides analytics on interest-to-buy, intent-to-buy, and past-purchase trends in online and offline purchases, why they purchase, and where.
Push Notification
A message sent to a user’s device from an app or website, often used in commerce media to engage users with promotions or reminders even when they are not actively using the platform.
Personally Identifiable Information (PII)
Personally Identifiable Information (PII) refers to any data that can identify a specific individual, such as a name, address, email, or ID number. It includes both 'linked' information (like names and addresses) and 'linkable' information (such as place of birth or religion) that can identify someone when combined with other data. PII is crucial in US privacy law, while the EU's GDPR uses the broader term 'personal data' to cover a wider range of information.
Quality Score
A metric used by search engines and ad platforms to evaluate the relevance and quality of an ad, keyword, or landing page. In commerce media, a higher quality score can lead to better ad placements and lower costs.
Quantitative Data
Data that can be measured and quantified, such as clicks, impressions, or sales. In commerce media, quantitative data is essential for analyzing campaign performance and making data-driven decisions.
Queries Per Second (QPS)
Queries per second (QPS) measures the number of requests a server receives each second. It is commonly used to assess the traffic and capacity of information retrieval systems like search engines or databases. In digital advertising, high QPS indicates that an ad network or exchange can handle significant demand, reflecting both its reach and ability to serve large volumes of ad requests.
Reach
The total number of unique users who are exposed to a particular ad or campaign. In commerce media networks, maximizing reach while maintaining relevance is crucial for campaign success.
Remarketing
A strategy that targets users who have previously interacted with a brand or website but did not complete a desired action, such as making a purchase. Remarketing ads are shown to these users to encourage them to return and complete the action.
Real-Time Bidding (RTB)
A method of buying online advertising in real-time auctions, where ad impressions are sold to the highest bidder within milliseconds. This technology underpins many programmatic advertising platforms in commerce media.
Reserved Inventory
Reserved inventory refers to specific ad space on a website that is set aside exclusively for certain advertisers based on a pre-agreed deal or price. This type of inventory is often used in programmatic guaranteed deals, where ads are served automatically according to the terms of the deal. Advertisers may reserve inventory to secure premium positions, run time-sensitive campaigns, or ensure their ads are displayed alongside particular content.
Redirect
An instance of redirecting one URL to another.
Retargeting
A form of online advertising that targets users who have previously visited a website or engaged with a brand but did not complete a conversion. Retargeting is a powerful tool in commerce media for driving repeat engagement.
Revenue per Mille (RPM)
A metric used to measure the revenue generated per thousand impressions. In commerce media, RPM is often used to evaluate the performance of ads on publisher sites.
Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)
A key performance indicator that measures the revenue generated for every dollar spent on advertising. ROAS is a critical metric in commerce media to assess the profitability of ad campaigns.
Rich Media
Advanced interactive advertising formats that go beyond simple banners or text ads, including video, audio, and other elements that engage users. In commerce media, rich media ads are used to create more immersive brand experiences.
RFP (Request for Proposal)
A document issued by a company seeking bids from potential suppliers for a specific project or service. In commerce media, RFPs are commonly used when selecting media buying platforms or ad tech vendors.
ROI (Return on Investment)
A financial metric used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment, calculated as the ratio of net profit to the cost of the investment. In commerce media, ROI is often used to assess the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.
ROS (Run of Site)
A type of ad placement where the ads are shown across an entire website, rather than being limited to specific sections or pages. In commerce media, ROS can help maximize ad visibility across different site content.
RTB (Real-Time Bidding)
An auction-based system where ad impressions are sold in real-time to the highest bidder, allowing advertisers to reach specific audiences at the moment they are browsing relevant content. RTB is a cornerstone of programmatic advertising in commerce media.
Real-Time Audience (RTA)
A protocol that enables communication with a media owner's ad server to decide whether to display ads to a consumer who is currently browsing a page. This real-time decision-making helps optimize ad delivery based on the user's current browsing behavior.
Real-Time Creative Optimization (RTCO)
A feature of Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO+) that instantly determines the most engaging combination of predefined visual elements for a specific consumer, based on their current context and behavior. This ensures that ads are tailored to maximize relevance and engagement in real time.
Renderer
Proprietary technology that allows us to render fully optimized ads on the media owner's page in real time, enabling billions of ad variations to be available within a given campaign.
Reseller Program
A program that enables retailers to resell Dynamic Retargeting services to their brand partners. This allows both parties to reach shoppers with co-branded, dynamic ads across leading media owners, enhancing the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns.
Retail Ads
Retail advertising is the process by which retailers use store advertising (online and offline) to drive awareness and interest towards their products to generate sales from their target audience. Through advertising, a retailer attempts to influence their audience to drive a specific marketing objective.
Retention
Customer retention is a marketing goal designed to engage current or previous customers, often by encouraging continued use of an organization’s products or services. In commerce media, strategies for customer retention include personalized marketing, loyalty programs, and targeted offers.
Second Price Auction
A bidding methodology in advertising where the highest bidder wins however the winner will then pay the second highest bid plus one cent.
Self-Serve Advertising
The ability for an advertiser to directly manage and publish their own campaigns within a platform, without the need of an interaction with a salesperson. This can include self-serve users creating campaigns and creatives, bidding on ad slots across channels, and managing funds within a platform.
Server-Side Ad Serving
Allows advertisers and publishers to manage and push ads without the use of coded tags. This is different from traditional client-side calls from the browser or app and the publisher makes the call separately without the need to code the page.
Social Ad
An ad surfaced to any social media channel, typically as part of a social media campaign.
Sponsored Ad
An ad type used to display a specific product or service to consumers typically in the context of eCommerce. Sponsored Ads are designed to target keywords and are typically surfaced to category pages, search, blogs or in-app experiences.
Static AdAn ad that does not change, whereas dynamic ads change depending on key attributes related to a customer profile. These ads are typically display or banner ads that are focused on brand awareness.
Supply Side Platform (SSP) An SSP is a platform that allows publishers to manage and sell their ad inventory to prospective brands. SSPs are typically offered as SAAS solutions and can be managed service or self service models.
Tag A tag refers to a snippet of code on a website or app that serves as a placeholder for ads and sends a request to the ad server. Ad tags allow publishers to collect and send user activity and information to desired advertising and analytics platforms.
Target Audience
An intended group of consumers based on defined attributes and characteristics that are shown content or ads specific to the audience.
Third-Party Data
Data about users that is provided to a company or advertiser through a third-party business or vendor to support audience creation and targeted advertising. This method of data collection is being phased out of Ad-tech with the foreseeable end of third-party cookies.
Unique Visitor
When a user visits the website and this is tracked they are only counted once no matter the individual number of page visits to ensure accurate numbers for total visitors.
User
An individual who is accessing digital experiences, this can be in the context of interacting with ads or a platform.
User Profile
Refers to a collection of individual characteristics that together make up an individual's profile and allow advertisers to group customers based on their user profile.
Video Ad
An ad surfaced to users that involves movement and is played and viewed via a video player online. Video ads can include in-stream ads; displayed in a stream already being played, out-stream ads; embedded into web pages or blogs, and in-display ads; thumbnail ads displaying in the sidebar of streams.
Visits
Refers to a consumer accessing a website or specific web page.
View-Through Attribution (VTA)
A technique used to associate a served ad impression to a specific conversion. This means tracking actions (apart from just conversions) taken by a user that was served an ad impression to build this into attribution.
Walled Gardens
A closed environment where customer data is not as accessible to advertisers and they therefore have less control on how to target and measure success in these closed environments.
Win Rate
Refers to the number of consumer impressions that are attributed to a specific advertiser compared to the overall amount of ad impressions that were bid on.
Yield
Refers to the amount of revenue or value earned from advertising efforts, measured in the form of a percentage.
Yield Optimization
Actions taken in the advertising process to improve the amount of revenue generated from advertising efforts, which can be taken for both the publisher or advertiser. This can include changes to floor price, available inventory, target audiences and bidding strategies.
