Device / format terms
ʻFormatsʼ refer to the kinds of ads we collect (e.g., display, video, social), while ʻdevicesʼ refer to the devices on which ads were served (e.g., desktop, mobile, etc.). Together theyʼre the ʻchannelsʼ we report¹:
desktop display – digital display ads appearing on websites via browsers on desktop computers, including: Flash, HTML5, image (JPG & GIF), in-banner video, page skin.
desktop video – digital video ads appearing on websites on desktop computers.
Facebook mobile – paid posts appearing on Facebookʼs mobile app feed, including album, carousel, event, link, music, note, offer, photo, status, video.
Instagram mobile – sponsored posts and stories appearing on Instagramʼs mobile app feed, including carousel, event, link, photo, status, story, video.
mobile display – digital display ads appearing on websites via browsers on mobile phones and tablets, including Flash, HTML5, image (JPG & GIF), in-banner video, page skin.
mobile video – digital video ads appearing on websites via browsers on mobile phones and tablets. YouTube.com is included in mobile video prior to January 1, 2023.
OTT / CTV video – digital video ads appearing on streaming services / apps (e.g., Hulu) on connected TVs (e.g., Apple TV), streaming boxes (e.g., PlayStation) and streaming sticks (e.g., Roku).
Snapchat mobile – ads that appear in the stories tab, which may include single image and video ads and story ads.
TikTok mobile – ads that appear in the For You tab. At this time we exclusively capture In-Feed ads.
Twitter mobile and desktop – promoted Tweets appearing on Twitterʼs mobile app feed and Twitter.com via Chrome on desktop computers, including link, photo, status, story, video.
YouTube mobile and desktop – ads appearing in-app and on YouTube.com via browsers on mobile phones, tablets, and desktop computers.
Creative type terms
Though there are some digital creative types we do not report, here are the ones we do:
display and video (including YouTube)
HTML5 – ʻHypertext Markup Language (version 5)ʼ animated video ads without the need for plug-ins and APIs. Similar to Flash but with very different technology.
image (JPG & GIF) – ads using a static image or Graphics Interchange Format (GIF).
page skin – a temporary reskin or homepage takeover branded image which replaces the background of a website.
video – pre-, mid-, and post-roll, auto-play, click-to-play videos that appear on sites like YouTube.com, ESPN.com, etc.
uncaptured creatives – if weʼre unable to obtain details about an ad but generated a snapshot, itʼs marked ʻuncapturableʼ. This is seen by advertisers who heavily A/B test, and potentially remove or re-traffic their ads often with new promotions.
Facebook mobile
Not an exhaustive list of Facebook creative types we report, but here are the most popular:
carousel – up to ten images or videos displayed within a single ad that people can swipe, each with its own link.
link – single image ads that help promote a link to a website, post-click landing page, article, etc.
photo – ads using a static image.
status – ads promoting a Facebook Pageʼs in-feed status update.
video – ads that appear within the feed and showcase a product, service, or brand using video.
uncaptured post – if we are unable to obtain details about a Facebook post and unable to generate a snapshot, all of the ʻuncapturableʼ posts are rolled up into a single post for each Facebook page. This is seen by advertisers who heavily A/B test, and potentially remove the creatives, or re-traffic their ads often with new promotions.
unknown – there are a variety of reasons for ʻunknownʼ Facebook creative types. If we cannot apply a creative type, itʼs marked ʻunknownʼ.
Instagram mobile
photo – ads using a static image.
status – ads promoting a Instagram Pageʼs in-feed status update.
story² – video ads promoted via Instagram story versus feed.
reels – video ads promoted via Instagram reels versus feed.
video – ads that appear within the Instagram feed and showcase a product, service, or brand using video.
uncaptured post – if we are unable to obtain details about the Instagram post and unable to generate a snapshot, it will be marked as an Unknown Post Type. This is seen by advertisers who heavily A/B test, and potentially remove the creatives, or re-traffic their ads often with new promotions.
OTT / CTV video
video – auto-play video ads that appear on streaming services / apps (e.g., Hulu) on connected TVs (e.g., Apple TV), streaming boxes (e.g., PlayStation) and streaming sticks (e.g., Roku).
Snapchat mobile
photo – ads using a static image.
video – ads that appear within the Snapchat Stories tab and showcase a product, service, or brand using video.
story – video ads promoted via Snapchat story.
TikTok mobile
video – in-feed video ads that appear in between user videos as you scroll through your For You page.
Twitter mobile and desktop
link – ads that help promote a link to a website, post-click landing page, article, etc.
photo – ads using a static image.
status – ads promoting a Twitter Accountʼs in-feed status update.
video – ads that appear within the Twitter feed and showcase a product, service, or brand using video.
unknown – there are a variety of reasons for ʻunknownʼ Twitter creative types. If we cannot apply a creative type, itʼs marked ʻunknownʼ.
General industry and Pathmatics terms
ad exchange – digital marketplace that enables advertisers and publishers to buy and sell digital ad space, often through real-time auctions.
ad network – a service that connects sites to advertisers. We define it in our Ad Path as the entity from whom the advertiser is buying impressions.
Ad Path – each ad impression can be filled through a nearly infinite combination of transactions from publisher to SSP to multiple ad networks and ad exchanges, through DSPs and trading desks, and ultimately to the advertiser. Those steps form the Ad Path or specific path through which a creative was served, as determined by our Pathsource technology (e.g., espn.com → Rubicon Project → Google AdX + AdSense → Display & Video 360 → Doritos).
ad server – technology used by publishers, advertisers, ad agencies, and ad networks to manage and run online advertising campaigns; theyʼre responsible for making instantaneous decisions about what ads to show on a website, then serving them.
advertiser – company that paid to place the creative online; the first (and top) level of our brand hierarchy. Sometimes this is a parent company (e.g., PepsiCo, Inc.).
brand – companyʼs subdivisions, goods, and / or services beneath the Advertiser (e.g., Mountain Dew and Mountain Dew Major Melon are examples of brands / sub-brands beneath PepsiCo, Inc.).
category – distinct industries, products, and / or services that each creative is marketing (e.g., Mountain Dew Major Melon is classified into the Regular Soft Drinks, Sodas & Colas category).
CPM – cost per thousand. A pricing model in which advertisers pay for every 1,000 impressions of their advertisement served.
creative(s) – used interchangeably with ʻadʼ. Our ʻnumber of creativesʼ figures represents the estimated unique ads served or loaded on a page.
creative dimensions – size (width and height) of the creative (e.g., 300x250).
creative ID – unique Pathmatics ID for each creative.
creative text – text captured from a creative (e.g., “Tweet us the exact # of MAJORMELON bottles in this spot & you may win $1million. Must use #MTNDEWMAJORMELON & #MyPromotionEntry....”).
creative type – type of creative (e.g., album, carousel, event, Flash, HTML5 animation, image (JPG & GIF), in-banner video, link, note, offer, page skin, photo, status, story, etc.).
data aggregator (crawler) – a proprietary program that systematically browses the World Wide Web in order to create an index of data.
device / format – ʻFormatsʼ refer to the kinds of digital ads we collect (e.g., display, video, social), while ʻdevicesʼ refer to the devices on which the ads were served (e.g., desktop, mobile, etc.). Together they represent the ʻchannelsʼ we report (e.g., desktop display, mobile video, Facebook, etc.).
digital advertising – ads served on the web, like: OTT, search, email, display, etc. versus via traditional channels, like linear TV, print, radio, out-of-home (e.g., billboards), etc.
direct – digital inventory bought directly from a publisher; if we do not identify one of the adtech services in the transaction, we classify it as direct (e.g., nhl.com → Rold Gold).
display – advertising served digitally on the web via websites on desktop and handheld devices or apps, including banner ads, interstitials, rich media, social, video, etc. In the context of Pathmatics, for more insightful reporting we separate desktop and mobile display from social, despite ʻsocialʼ technically being ʻdisplayʼ.
DMP – ʻdata management platformsʼ collect and organize data from a variety of sources, and makes it available to other platforms (e.g., DSPs, SSPs, and ad exchanges) to be used for targeting, personalization, content customization, etc.
DSP – ʻdemand side platformʼ is a system that enables buyers to manage their supply sources (SSPs, Exchanges, Ad Networks) through a single interface. Pathmatics attributes impressions to the last DSP involved in the sale to the advertiser.
gender – gender of the panelist served a creative (e.g., female, male).
geography – country (e.g., England), state (e.g., Florida), province (Quebec), or metro (metropolitan area of a city – e.g., Berlin) from which a panelist was served a creative. Sometimes used interchangeably with ʻregionʼ within this document.
impressions – sometimes in the advertising industry referred to as “eyeballs”, impressions occur when an ad is loaded to a page. In the context of Pathmatics, itʼs the number of estimated impressions for a particular creative or set of creatives.
indirect (programmatic) – digital inventory bought programmatically; if we identify one or more DSP, SSP, ad network, or trading desk in the transaction, we classify the ad as indirect: (e.g., espn.com → Rubicon → Google AdX + AdSense → Display & Video 360 → Doritos).
landing page – URL of landing page for the creative (e.g., lifechangingdew.com).
link to creative – URL to the creative asset of the creative (S3 Link).
metro – geographic area that makes up the metropolitan area of a city.
OCR – ʻOptical Character Recognitionʼ, a technology that recognizes text within a digital image, used for identifying Pathmatics reported ʻcreative textʼ.
panel – group of individuals (sample of the population) whose behavior is observed and recorded.
PathsourceTM – Pathmaticsʼ patented technology that collects and analyzes digital advertising activity, detailing the exact route by which each ad is sold, enabling the most accurate spend and impression estimates.
platform – platform or operating system on which the panelist was served a creative (e.g., iOS, Android).
purchase channel – adtech provider from whom an advertiser purchased impressions (e.g., Advertising.com, The Trade Desk, etc.).
purchase channel type – channel through which an advertiser purchased impressions (e.g., Direct, DSP, Ad Network, SSP, Exchange, House Ad).
region – country from which the creative was observed.
ROW – ʻrest of worldʼ – in the context of Pathmatics is all regions we report, except US.
sales channel – adtech provider through which a publisher sold impressions (e.g., Rubicon, etc.).
sales channel type – channel through which a publisher sold impressions (e.g., Direct, DSP, Ad Network, SSP, Exchange, House Ad).
sampling – a statistical analysis technique used to select, manipulate and analyze a representative subset of data points to identify patterns and trends in the larger dataset.
site – used interchangeably with ʻpublisherʼ, itʼs the seller of ad impressions where the ad is ultimately served. Used interchangeably with ʻwebsiteʼ, itʼs the domain / URL or social platform from which the creative was observed.
spend – estimated dollars (or local currency) spent on a particular creative or set of creatives.
SSP – ʻSupply Side Platformʼ is a system that enables Publishers to manage their demand sources (DSPs, Exchanges, Ad Networks) through a single interface. Pathmatics attributes impressions to the first SSP identified after the publisher in the Ad Path.
taxonomy – data classification hierarchy (e.g., a brand tree or category tree assigned to a creative).
tracking pixel – an HTML code snippet which is loaded when a user visits a website or opens an email. It is useful for tracking user behavior and conversions. With a tracking pixel, advertisers can acquire data for digital marketing.
trading desk – a massive media buyer and reseller, which functions as an independent working unit within a large media buying concern.