Ad exchange – a digital marketplace that enables advertisers and publishers to buy and sell advertising space, often through real-time auctions
Ad network – traditionally, 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 server – technology used by publishers, advertisers, ad agencies, and ad networks to manage and run online advertising campaigns; they’re responsible for making instantaneous decisions about what ads to show on a website, then serving them
Advertiser – the company that paid to place the creative online; may be a brand or parent company. The first (and top) level of the brand hierarchy / brand taxonomy tree (e.g. Procter & Gamble is an advertiser
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
Brand – company’s goods or services delineated from other goods or services via a distinct name, term, symbol, design, or all of the above. The 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th (if applicable) levels of the brand hierarchy / brand taxonomy tree. Brands may be both descendants (or sub-brands) of advertisers and brands in the brand tree (e.g. Olay is a brand under the Procter & Gamble advertiser).
Category – the distinct industries, products, and / or services that each creative is marketing. There may be more than one level in the category hierarchy / category taxonomy tree (e.g. Procter & Gamble (an advertiser) rolls up to the Consumer Packaged Goods category)
CPM – cost per thousand. A pricing model in which advertisers pay for every 1000 impressions of their advertisement served
Crawler – a proprietary program that systematically browses the World Wide Web in order to create an index of data
Creative – throughout this document creative and ad (advertisement) are generally used interchangeably. In the context of a number of creatives reported by Pathmatics we define this as the number of creatives served (loaded on a page) as estimated by Pathmatics
Direct – digital inventory bought directly from a publisher (site) with limited involvement of ad tech software/services. If we do not identify one of the following in the transaction, we classify the ad as direct: DSPs, SSPs, ad networks, trading desk, or ad exchanges. We may, however, see DMPs, ad servers, and/or tracking pixels in the transaction, but we still consider this direct. For
Example: espn.com → DFP → Toyota
DMP – “data management platform” collects and organizes data from a variety of data sources, and makes it available to other platforms such as DSPs, SSPs, and ad exchanges to be used for targeted advertising, personalization, content customization, etc.
DSP – “demand-side platform” 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
Geography – a country or region. Throughout this document geography and region are generally used interchangeably
Impressions – a number of times a particular creative is loaded on a page as estimated by Pathmatics
Indirect (programmatic) – digital inventory bought programmatically from a publisher (site) with one or more ad tech software/service involved in the transaction. If we do identify one of the following in the transaction, we classify the ad as indirect: DSPs, SSPs, ad networks, trading desk, and/or ad exchanges. For example: cnn.com (Turner Digital) → DFP → Google AdX + AdSense → Verizon
Metro – a city or zip code. Throughout this document city and metro are generally used interchangeably
Panel – a group of individuals (a sample of the population) whose behavior is observed and recorded
Pathsource™ – Pathmatics’ 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
Purchase channel – the ad-tech provider from whom an advertiser purchased impressions (Advertising.com, The Trade Desk, etc.). In the Pathmatics Ad Path, the purchase channel is read from right to left
Rogue site – any site which offers the ability to stream, download, or torrent Media Content (e.g. TV shows, movies, video games, and live TV) that the sites do not own the rights to
Sales channel – the ad-tech provider through which a publisher sold impressions (Rubicon, OpenX, etc.). In the Pathmatics Ad Path, the sales channel is read from left to right
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 (website) – the publisher/seller of the ad impressions where the ad is ultimately served/viewed. Throughout this document site and publisher are generally used interchangeably.
Spend – dollars spent on a particularly creative or set of creatives as estimated by Pathmatics (determined by the estimated CPM and estimated impressions for creatives)
SSP – “Supply Side Platform” 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 – a scheme of data classification or organization, generally involving a data hierarchy
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