A virtual marketplace for the programmatic purchase of inventory from various publishers in real time

Ad impressions refer to the number of ads that were displayed or served by the ad server. This is a key metric for billing models based on impressions, such as cost per thousand impressions (CPM).

Technology that determines in real time which ads appear on a website and then delivers those ads. Ad servers are used by publishers, advertisers, and ad networks to place their ads in specific locations within the media inventory. This allows them to measure the success and progress of various campaigns.

An advertiser is an individual or company that promotes its products or services. In affiliate marketing, this is also referred to as a merchant. Advertisers use advertising to achieve various goals, such as brand building, product sales, or building trust.

Companies use affiliates to promote their products and compensate these affiliates for every customer the affiliate brings in.

A model that describes the impact of advertising on customers in marketing. The customer goes through several phases:

1. Awareness (Goal: To attract attention) 2. Interest (Goal: To spark interest 3. Desire (Goal: To create a desire) 4. Action (Goal: To prompt an action, e.g., a purchase)

A list of websites or domains where an advertiser's ads are explicitly permitted to appear. The opposite of a blocklist. Allowlists are used when maximum control over the advertising environment is more important than reach.

Attribution of a conversion to previous advertising touchpoints. Common models include Last Click (the last interaction receives the full value), First Click, linear distribution, time decay, and data-driven models that statistically weight the contribution of each touchpoint.

As part of affiliate partner programs, a large number of advertising banners are distributed through banner networks. The goal: By widely distributing the banners, the likelihood that as many users as possible will click on them increases.

The time period within which a conversion is still attributed following an ad impression. Standard periods are 30 days after a click and 1 to 7 days after a view. The length of this window significantly affects reported campaign performance and should be specified in a contract before the campaign launches.

A systematic comparison of companies, business areas, processes, or products—whether internal or external, one-time or ongoing. Benchmarking aims to improve a company’s own efficiency through direct comparison by identifying gaps relative to the “best in class” and closing those gaps.

A list of websites on which an advertiser specifies that their ads must not appear because the content is fraudulent or inappropriate.

Measures designed to protect a brand’s reputation from the negative effects of unwanted or inappropriate content in online advertising. These measures may include the use of blacklists, preventing ads from appearing on websites in certain content categories (including hate speech and known malware sites), or partnering with third-party verification providers.

The ratio of clicks to ad impressions, expressed as a percentage. The CTR is one of the key metrics used to evaluate the quality of advertising materials.

The ratio of sales to clicks, expressed as a percentage. This metric is tracked to evaluate the quality of click-through traffic, for example, in online stores. A low click-to-sale rate combined with a high CTR indicates traffic that generates clicks but is not driven by the intent to purchase.

The ratio of conversions to website visits or clicks, expressed as a percentage. Depending on the campaign goal, a conversion may be an order, a lead, or another predefined action.

Billing model: Payment is made for a specific action (e.g., download)

Billing model: A specific price is paid for each click

Billing Model: Payment is made for each lead (qualified prospect)

Billing Model in Affiliate Marketing: Payment is made for each order

Automatic scanning of websites for content by automated programs (crawlers). The results are indexed or added to a catalog. In addition to search engines, contextual targeting operates on this basis.

Software that consolidates campaign and user data from various sources. The DMP helps create user segments, thereby making targeting via the DSP more efficient.

Display advertising, or banner advertising, is one of the traditional forms of online advertising. It involves graphic advertisements that are typically placed above, beside, or below website content in the form of banners and may include audio and video elements.

Advertising materials that are dynamically displayed to make each ad more relevant. The most common approach is dynamic retargeting, in which ads can showcase products that a user has browsed or added to their shopping cart. Dynamic ads can also recommend similar products, best-selling items, or similar offers based on browsing behavior.

A technology platform that offers the ability to purchase inventory from various publisher sources. Real-time bidding options are available for these sources to access and win inventory auctions.

Known information about a user. The most common deterministic data consists of login credentials—more specifically, email addresses. This term can be applied to data, targeting, and measurement. Its opposite in advertising technology is probabilistic.

Promotional emails for which the recipient receives compensation from the advertiser in the range of a few cents

In email marketing, a user gives their consent twice: The first opt-in occurs when the email address is entered into a mailing list or contact form. Only after the user confirms their opt-in by clicking a link in the confirmation email can they be contacted for email marketing purposes.

Dynamic search ads are an option in search engine marketing. With this approach, search ads and keywords are not defined in advance; instead, they are automatically identified and created.

Information collected directly from a company's own source regarding consumers' behavior, actions, or interests, such that it is “owned” by a single source. This may include a brand's customer database, website visits, or actions taken on its website.

Forced clicks occur when website visitors are compelled to click on a link or banner in order to, for example, complete a download.
Due to its limited advertising effectiveness and the negative user experience it creates, this method has largely disappeared.

Iframes (short for “inline frames”) are embedded in HTML pages and allow external content to be loaded as a standalone HTML page. Iframes can be used to display content, such as advertisements, within a frame. The high-quality, search-engine-friendly content remains on the actual website.

Cost-to-revenue ratio; used to evaluate campaign results

A process that uses machine learning to identify target audiences that look and behave very similarly to a known target audience. So-called twin models are often used to scale the process and find more people who are likely to take a desired action.

Related to the AIDA model, the marketing funnel describes the customer's journey through various touchpoints, from the first contact with the product or brand to the purchase.

The consumer's decision to “opt in”: For example, to receive a newsletter by entering an email address or to consent to the storage or processing of data for marketing purposes. The opposite is opting out.

The consumer's decision “against” this: For example, consent to data storage or processing can be withdrawn via the opt-out process. The opposite of this is the opt-in.

The primary goal is to elicit an immediate response and encourage potential customers to take a specific action, such as clicking, visiting a website, downloading something, or making a purchase. Various tactics can be used to achieve this, including prospecting and retargeting. Also known as “direct response advertising”

A tracking method in which the tracking of a contact is triggered by a cookie as soon as an ad is displayed. Common in display marketing, since even mere exposure—without any action (e.g., a click)—has an advertising effect.

Based on probabilistic and statistical analyses to draw conclusions about a user. The method is less accurate because it also includes unknown users, but it allows for scalability by using deterministic data sets as the basis for modeling. The term can be applied to data, targeting, and measurement. Its opposite is deterministic.

Reaching new target audiences that are a good fit for the brand and are likely to convert. Prospecting is a key strategy used in combination with retargeting to bring new potential customers into the marketing funnel.

A marketer or website operator who provides advertising space and generates reach, visitors, or sales for advertisers. Depending on the channel and campaign goal, there are different areas of focus: content creation, traffic generation, or marketing. In affiliate marketing, the publisher is the partner who receives the commission, while the advertiser, as the merchant, pays the commission.

Synonym for programmatic advertising: Online ad inventory is auctioned off in real time. Advertisers purchase ad inventory through a DSP, while publishers offer theirs through an SSP. DMPs provide user data that is crucial for the purchasing decision.

An auction process used in programmatic advertising. Banner ad spaces are auctioned off via RTB.

The total amount of revenue generated by all customers who made a purchase and received an advertising message. It is calculated as revenue divided by advertising costs.

Data shared with a partner, often to help with personalization or to support a mutually beneficial partnership.

The counterpart to the DSP. The SSP offers publishers the ability to sell their website inventory automatically and as profitably as possible. SSPs generally do not charge advertisers any fees; instead, they are compensated through a commission on the publishers' revenue.

A technique that suppresses certain ad exchanges so that ad inventory can be placed at the lowest and most effective cost.

Code embedded in a web page that triggers an HTTP(S) request to an ad server, provides information such as the cookie, page URL, screen resolution, and browser information, and enables an ad to load. Asynchronous tags load in the background, so the client’s page loads independently of the tag’s server requests, which has a minimal impact on load times and the user experience.

Billing Model: The cost of reaching 1,000 potential customers with an advertising piece

Information that a company collects indirectly (e.g., through third-party cookies) or that is aggregated by others.

Vendors that monitor and validate metrics such as conversion rates, in-target delivery, visibility, ad fraud, and brand safety. IAS, Meetrics, and Nielsen are examples of well-known third-party validation service providers.

Further Development of Brand Safety. While brand safety generally excludes inappropriate contexts, brand suitability assesses which contexts are appropriate for a specific brand. A context can therefore be safe but still unsuitable for the brand in question.

Third-party cookies are used to collect user information and to plan and evaluate marketing activities. Cookies are small data files that are stored in the browser and can only be read by the party that created them.

Control for navigating menus in programs and on websites

View or “view-through” conversions are counted when a user has viewed an impression, regardless of whether they clicked on it. View conversions can be attributed to numerous partners.

A technical solution that enables website operators to obtain and document users’ consent to data processing and to forward this consent to downstream systems. The CMP is a prerequisite for the lawful use of advertising technologies.

A general term for targeting and measurement methods that do not rely on third-party cookies. These include contextual targeting, first-party data, ID solutions such as netID or EUID, and server-side tracking.

Billing model: Payment is made only for video views that are watched in their entirety—that is, for views that last until the end of the ad. This is a stricter criterion than the traditional CPV.

Billing model: Payment is based on the number of unique users reached, rather than on the number of impressions served. The advertiser thus pays for net reach, not for the volume of contacts.

Billing model: Payment is made for each counted video view. What counts as a view is defined in advance; common thresholds include two seconds of visibility or 50 percent of the video's length.

Billing model: You pay for each website visit generated through the campaign. Unlike with CPC, you are not charged per click, but rather per page view that is actually loaded.

The expected contribution margin from a customer over the entire customer relationship. CLV serves as the basis for determining the maximum economically viable levels for CPO or CPL.

EU General Data Protection Regulation, in effect since May 2018. It defines the legal bases for data processing, the rights of data subjects, and documentation and information requirements, and establishes the legal framework for data-driven advertising.

A unique identifier used to target an inventory package agreed upon between the publisher and the advertiser in the DSP. The Deal ID conveys the agreed-upon terms—such as price, inventory, and priority—to the auction.

Resolving duplicate counts of a conversion that is reported simultaneously across multiple channels or partners. Without deduplication, orders are credited twice, and the performance of individual channels is misrepresented.

EU Digital Services Act, in effect since 2024. Among other things, it regulates transparency requirements for online advertising, the handling of illegal content, and the prohibition of certain forms of targeting. Not to be confused with Dynamic Search Ads, which use the same abbreviation.

Google's Demand Side Platform for the programmatic purchase of display, video, and audio inventory. DV360 enables centralized campaign management across ad exchanges, private deals, and proprietary data sources.

Auction mechanisms in programmatic advertising. In a second-price auction, the highest bidder pays the price of the second-highest bid plus a minimal premium. In a first-price auction—which is predominantly used today—the highest bidder pays their own bid.

The minimum price below which a publisher will not sell its inventory in the auction. Floor prices can be set statically or dynamically based on the user, context, and demand.

Limiting the frequency with which a user sees an advertisement within a defined time period. Effective capping prevents wasted reach and excessive advertising pressure that can damage brand perception.

An industry standard established by IAB Europe through which user consents are transmitted in a machine-readable format to all participating advertising technologies. Participating providers are registered with a Vendor ID.

The actual additional revenue generated by an advertising campaign—that is, the portion that would not have been generated without the campaign. This is measured by comparing test groups with and without exposure to the advertising.

Traffic without genuine ad engagement. A distinction is made between General Invalid Traffic (GIVT, e.g., known bots and crawlers, which are easily identifiable from a technical standpoint) and Sophisticated Invalid Traffic (SIVT, e.g., manipulated devices or hidden ad spaces). Pre-bid checks filter out invalid traffic before bids are placed.

EU regulation governing artificial intelligence, known internationally as the EU AI Act. It classifies AI systems into risk categories and defines transparency, documentation, and labeling requirements that also apply to the use of generative systems in marketing and the production of advertising materials.

An open auction in which inventory is accessible to all connected buyers without prior agreement. The counterpart to private deals, which typically involve lower-quality inventory and less transparency.

A tracking method in which a conversion is attributed only if the user has previously clicked on the ad. The opposite of post-view.

Inventory is reviewed before bids are placed. Criteria such as visibility forecasts, invalid traffic, ad environment quality, and brand safety are evaluated before any bids are placed. Unlike downstream blocklists, pre-bid prevents media costs from being incurred for unsuitable inventory in the first place.

Reaching users who have not yet interacted with the advertiser's website, based on behavioral, contextual, or modeling data. Pre-targeting brings new users into the funnel; retargeting brings them back.

Access to select inventory agreed upon directly between the publisher and the buyer, technically tracked via a Deal ID. Compared to open auctions, private deals offer a higher-quality ad environment, fixed terms, and greater transparency.

Programmatic booking method with a guaranteed volume and fixed price, without an auction. Combines the planning certainty of traditional direct booking with programmatic execution.

Re-engaging users who have already interacted with the advertiser’s website or app but have not converted. Targeting is based on previous behavior, such as products viewed or abandoned shopping carts.

Subsequent cancellation of a conversion that has already been reported, e.g., due to a return, non-payment, or a failed credit check. The cancellation rate is a key metric for assessing the actual profitability of performance-based billing models.

An additional parameter in the tracking link that allows conversions to be attributed to a specific placement, campaign, or source. It serves as the basis for attribution analysis and for resolving attribution conflicts between partners.

A German law that regulates access to information stored on end devices and thus establishes the requirement for consent regarding cookies and similar technologies. It succeeds the TTDSG and complements the GDPR.

The number of unique users who had at least one advertising contact within a given time period. The basis for calculating net reach and average contact frequency.

Verifying that submitted leads or orders are complete, plausible, and authentic before they are paid out. In lead generation, this typically involves duplicate checking, address verification, and double opt-in.

Visibility of an ad. According to the Media Rating Council standard, a display ad is considered visible if at least 50 percent of its area was within the visible area for at least one second; for video, this period is at least two seconds. A delivered impression is therefore not automatically a viewed impression.

Billing model: Payment is based exclusively on visible impressions in accordance with the viewability standard. Unlike the traditional CPM model, the advertiser bears the viewability risk.