fullthrottle^® AdTech Glossary

Serving marketing messaging only to the intended audiences, ie: fullthrottle.ai’s platform sending mail pieces to direct households who visited the website.

An event that occurs when a video ad plays through to the end.

When a company knowingly serves ads that no one will actually see as a way to drive “views” and revenue. For example, a website can use bots to automatically refresh its pages in order to register a high number of page views and appear more attractive as an inventory source on ad exchanges.

A company that connects websites with advertising to sell, then aggregates that inventory for advertisers to buy, usually via programmatic exchanges.

A company whose technology relays an ad buy to a website and reports on how it performed.

Typical Ad Sizes include 728×90, 300×250, 160×600, 300×600, 320×50.

Short for advertising technology, refers commonly to all technologies, softwares and services used for delivering, controlling and targeting online ads. 

Artificial intelligence that is used within advertising technology to make marketing and advertising strategies smarter. AdTech AI can be used to predict where shoppers are in the funnel and how close to purchase they are. The goal of AdTech AI is to leverage the processing power of computers to find connections between data points that would not be possible for a human. Also see Artificial Intelligence.

A team within an ad agency that executes online media buying as a managed service. 

A software interface that serves as a connection between computers or computer programs, with a set of rules on how those platforms communicate. For example, fullthrottle.ai’s Audience Flume offers a robust set of APIs, including Identification API​, Propensity API​, Influence API​, and Attribution API.

An implementation of technology where marketing decisions are made by or in part by machine algorithms and machine learning. The goal of AdTech AI is to leverage the processing power of computers. Also see AdTech AI.

Attribution in a marketing sense determines the most effective influences which drive buyers to purchase. This is not the most comprehensive way to measure channels’ ROI. Also see Multi-Touch Influence.

A process used in advertising technology that attempts to expand the target audience size while ensuring relevancy and maximizing engagement. The extension process takes a known audience segment and catalogs various shared characteristics that can be used to target people who bear similarities and are therefore likely to become customers. Audience Extension techniques are also sometimes called “Lookalike Modeling”. 

An open, API-based first-party data solution that allows organizations to generate novel first-party data, create audiences, and establish downstream processes on top of an open addressability framework. Any brand can use this technology to enhance their data democracy. This API is a solution for the future of the one web. Also see API.

The process of dividing your audience into subgroups based on shared interests and similar behaviors for even more refined targeting and analysis. This segmentation can be based on previous purchases, website interactions, product usage, etc.

A technique used by advertisers and publishers to utilize a web user’s previous web browsing behavior to customize the types of ads they receive. Behavioral targeting can generally be categorized as onsite behavioral targeting or network behavioral targeting, depending on whether the tracking is deployed on a single website or domain, or across a network of websites. 

A software application that runs automated tasks – usually that are both simple and structurally repetitive – over the internet typically at a much higher rate than would be possible for a human alone. 

The increase in effectiveness measurements (e.g., message recall) between respondents who did not view the ad and those who did.

Practice to avoid placing ads next to unsafe content. Example: crime, hate speech, adult, etc. Keeping a brand’s reputation safe when they advertise online. 

A metric that measures the number of clicks your ad(s) receive per number of impressions.

Refers to any TV that can be connected to the Internet and access content beyond what is available via the normal offering from a cable provider. 

Ads placed on streaming platforms either on apps on smart TVs or on over-the-top devices. It is a way to reach consumers who might not traditionally watch cable or extend the messaging across additional devices. Examples of ConnectedTV Advertising are streaming services that run ads during traditional breaks in television shows, such as Hulu, Amazon Prime, HBO, and Apple TV.

A technology that enables websites and apps to obtain and manage user consent for the collection and processing of personal data. It ensures compliance with various privacy regulations, such as GDPR. To learn more about how fullthrottle.ai handles consent management, check out this article: All About User Consent: CMT, Browser Location Prompts, and fullthrottle.ai’s Integration.

A specialized software solution designed to manage user consent for data collection and processing. It helps organizations comply with privacy regulations by capturing, storing, and managing user permissions for data usage. To learn more about how fullthrottle.ai handles consent management, check out this article: All About User Consent: CMT, Browser Location Prompts, and fullthrottle.ai’s Integration.

A form of targeted advertising for advertisements appearing on websites, mobile browsers or other ad supported devices. The advertisements themselves are selected and served by automated systems based on the identity of the user and the content displayed.

Refers to removing the dependency on third-party cookies by taking advantage of future-proof strategies for audience building, activation, and measurement. Also see Third-Party Cookie.

This is the price paid by an advertiser to a publisher for a single click on the ad that brings the consumer to its intended destination.

The price paid by an advertiser to the publisher once a video has been viewed through completion.

With the CPE bidding strategy, impressions are free and advertisers only pay when users actively engage with ads (ie: click, watch, roll-over, etc.).  

An advertising method that only charges advertisers each time their app is downloaded.

The cost per one thousand impressions. This is a common currency for buying and selling digital media.

A bidding method where you pay for each time your video is played.

Technology or media that applies across multiple formats and across multiple devices. This is different from “cross-device”, which implies only multi-device application rather than multiple formats within devices.

A platform designed for marketers to maintain customer data, via collecting, managing, and engaging with customers. Examples of Customer Data Platforms (or CDP) include Salesforce, Blueshift, and Treasure Data.

A platform meant to manage data of current clients or potential customers (leads). Some examples of Customer Relationship Management systems are Salesforce, Keap, Monday, and ClickUp.

The act of collecting massive amounts of data for processing altogether. Also see Data Aggregators.

Companies that collect large amounts of data collected from various sources, compile the information, and sell the processed data.

A secured, privacy-safe database environment that allows two entities to share and/or match on & offline data without ever actually touching the other party’s data. Also see Data Onboarding and Data Hygienics.

The act of managing consumer data that meets legal requirements and regulations. Continual management and attention of consumer data hygiene, legislative practices, and data security to ensure the consumer’s data rights are always protected. Also see California Consumer Privacy Act.

Refers to efficiency of the many processes that can be applied to data such as storage, access, filtering, sharing, etc., and whether or not the processes lead to the desired outcome within resource constraints. The accuracy (efficiency) for how first-party data performs vs. cookies is often evident in the results and reporting due to it’s ability to measure back to a sale or back to a household. Data efficiency is proven when there is no wasted ad spend or wasted messaging.

The act of maintaining data to ensure all the information is as correct and error-free as possible. Also see Data Onboarding and Data Clean Room.

The process of using an advertiser’s 1st, 2nd and/or 3rd-party data to craft a more relevant marketing plan from which deeper and more relevant insights can be garnered.

A repository designed to store large amounts of raw data without a strict hierarchy, keeping it ready for on-demand transformation, activation, and analysis. A Data Lake can either live in-house on your servers, or you can subcontract the storage and management.

A “data warehouse” used to house and manage cookie IDs and to generate audience segments, which are then used to target specific users with online ads. This software can also be used to house, organize, sort, and analyze first-, second-, and third-party data.

The process of taking offline data and moving it online for marketing and advertising purposes. Also see Data Clean Room and Data Hygienics.

Ensuring all technical processes and implementations are in place to facilitate a compliant transfer and safe usage of consumer data.

Traditionally used for television buying; a block of time that divides the day into segments for purchase, scheduling and delivery (e.g., primetime).

A unique piece of code assigned to an automated ad buy, used to match buyers and sellers individually, based on a variety of criteria negotiated beforehand.

Software used to purchase advertising in an automated fashion, allowing advertisers to buy impressions across a range of publisher sites through ad exchanges. Sizmek, Amobee, Trade Desk are Demand-Side Platforms.

The process of older technology becoming obsolete, usually because it has been superseded by newer technology. This is usually because it has been superseded by newer technology. Deprecated technology is not immediately removed from the environment but takes time to stagnate and eventually become irrelevant. 

As defined by Nielsen, DMAs divide the country into different regional markets by population centers (e.g., San Francisco Bay Area). 

The use of advertising using visual methods to direct target audiences. This can be shared on various channels. Also see User-Generated Content.

A form of online advertising where an advertiser‘s message is shown on a web page, generally set off in a box at the top or bottom or to one side of the content of the page.

A metric for measuring advertising revenue generated across various marketing channels, calculated by dividing total earnings by the total number of impressions in thousands.

The ratio of ad requests that are successfully filled in relation to the total number of ad requests made, expressed in percentage.

A small text file placed directly by a website/brand/publisher on the user’s computer, tracking their activity only on that website. For example –– a clothing brand saves the items you placed in your cart for the next time you visit the site.

Information businesses collect on their audiences and customers. This information belongs to the entity that collected it. Data directly collected by a brand – typically through e-commerce sites and company websites – about the actions their users take while on that site.

The number of times an ad is delivered to the same browser in a single session or time period.

A set of rules and regulations active in Europe that gives citizens more control over their personal data.

Showing ads to people based on their mobile device’s location, ZIP code information they submit when registering a site/service or GPS coordinates collected by site/service.

The standard currency that broadcast TV has used to plan, purchase and measure advertising campaigns since the 1950s. Defined as [reach x frequency] for a target demographic.

A key digital identifier in the world of AdTech used to track consumer behavior across devices, channels, and platforms while remaining privacy compliant. Hashed emails (HEMs) are generated when a common plaintext email address is ran through a cryptographic function such as MD5 or SHA256, and its this obfuscation of the user’s PI that makes this a compelling linkage for digital media activation and measurement.

Identifying households tied to unique devices. Part of the identity resolution process comes from understanding that a “unique” visitor is really a unique device and that households shop across multiple devices. Also see Identity Resolution and Identity Graph.

The act of transforming audiences previously inaccessible due to tech deprecation into first-party addressable households. This must be done using new and innovative technology, without reliance on third-party cookies or mobile ad IDs, resolving households across multiple devices, and with validated signals. The end result is a net new audience ready for activation and measurement. Also see Deprecation, Third-Party Cookie, and Mobile Ad ID.

A tool that houses all information of customers and prospects, specifically their interactions with a website or product, creating a unified view. Also see Identity Resolution and Household Resolution.

Involves making connections across datapoints so a consumer can be recognized across multiple devices, helping a brand build a cohesive omni-channel view of their consumers and target them on multiple devices.  Also see Household Resolution and Identity Graph.

A household targeted marketing strategy that can deliver omnichannel marketing to decision-makers within the household. Example: Deploying Direct Mail, Audio, Video, and Display all at once to an address to create an Immersive Household branding experience for a “private” offer. To discover the method fullthrottle.ai follows, check out the Immersive Household website.

An ad that appears within a piece of content. For example, a pre-roll ad attached to a YouTube video or a Promoted Tweet in a Twitter feed.

Actual placement of an advertisement – digital or otherwise – as recorded by the ad server.

Purchase order between a seller of advertising and a buyer (usually via an advertising agency).

A measurable value that demonstrates how effectively a company is achieving key business objectives.

Live television that is watched as scheduled; stands in contrast to pre-recorded or video on demand (VOD).

A method of AI which helps software applications develop accuracy and precision of a given algorithm by using historical data to guide the system and self-improve without being explicitly programmed to make changes. Also see Artificial Intelligence and AdTech AI.

Additional ad impressions which are negotiated in order to make up for the shortfall of ads delivered versus the commitments agreed upon in the insertion order.

Refers to the number of unique audience records two partners have in common when comparing or onboarding their data sets.

A body whose mission is to secure audience measurement that is valid, reliable, and effective.

A measurement used to evaluate an ad’s effectiveness at driving a viewer’s ability to remember a brand or the message it intended to communicate. Typically measured using a control/exposed survey methodology.

Form of online video ad placement where the ad is played during a break in the middle of the content video.

A Device ID is a unique identifier, usually a long string of random characters, attached to modern hardware connected to the internet such as an iPhone or SmartTV for the purpose of advertising and identification.

A way of determining the buyer’s journey by reviewing all marketing assets. Multi-Touch Influence is the magic mix rather than the magic wand (attribution), without dependence on old-school methodologies like last click, first click, etc. Also see Attribution.

Usually regarded as pre/mid/post-roll ad insertion within short-form content. Pre-/mid-/post-roll ads refer to where the ads are placed within the video.

An open digital advertising marketplace for aggregated inventory from multiple partners where buyers can bid either manually or programmatically to purchase impressions.

Refers to an individual giving a company permission to use data collected from or about the individual for a particular reason, such as to market the company’s products and services.

Refers to content accessed via the internet without the involvement of a television service provider. A media service offered directly to viewers via the internet. OTT bypasses cable, broadcast, and satellite television platforms. Examples of OTT include: Subscription Video-on-Demand (SVOD) services, HBO Max, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Hulu.

The opportunity for an HTML document to appear on a browser window as a direct result of a user’s interaction with a Web site.

Information that traces back to an identifiable individual. Digital information that can be used, on its own or together with other information, to track back actions to a specific, known individual.

A data regulation requiring businesses to disclose how the consumer’s data is being used and allowing them to opt out of said usage. PII Criticality Safety Index (CSI) refers to the dimensionless number assigned to Personal Identifying Information (PII) to designate the degree of control and customization required in processing and accumulating data.

A piece of code provided by a company that wishes to track the end-user’s behavior and identification (cookie) on a website.

A video advertisement that appears directly after an online video. Common formats include :15 and :30 lengths.

A video advertisement that appears directly preceding an online video. Common formats include :15 and :30 lengths.

Programmatic ad buying is the act of using software to automatically bid on digital advertising. Traditional Programmatic is using deprecated technology such as third-party cookies and/or MAIDs to target consumers.

The use of software to purchase digital advertising, as opposed to the traditional process that involves RFPs, human negotiations and manual insertion orders.

An ad buy done directly between a publisher and advertiser through automated programmatic ad-buying systems.

A typical automated buy, similar to an open auction, in which relatively anyone can bid to buy ad space that is for sale.

A technology that enables brands and agencies to buy TV ads programmatically – using software.

The qualitative method of studying consumer behavior based on personality, opinions, activities, interests. It reveals their beliefs, values, and goals, which can then be used to understand their consumer motivations.

The buying and selling of online ad impressions through real-time auctions that happen within milliseconds.

A platform that enable retailers to make money from their shopper data. A RMN is created when a retail company offers a third-party brand to use their digital channels for advertising purposes. Examples of retail media networks are: Amazon Advertising, Walmart Connect, Target Roundel, CVS Media Exchange.

A marketing strategy of sending targeted ads to users who have visited a website and interacted with the brand but haven’t necessarily converted before leaving the page. These are often contacts already in your database as leads or customers.

The scheduling of Internet advertising whereby an ad network positions ads across the sites it represents at its own discretion.

The scheduling of Internet advertising whereby ads run across an entire site, often at a lower cost to the advertiser than the purchase of specific site sub-sections.

A piece of code built into a website to enhance the users’ experience and/or increase website functionality and capabilities. Scripts gather information on website users so businesses can create personalized experiences for consumers.

This is first-party data that is obtained from another business, usually a trusted source. When a company makes its first-party data directly available to another company, which then uses it to sell ads.

The percentage of ad inventory sold as opposed to traded or bartered.

An ad revenue model that focuses on weight or percentage among other advertisers; used to represent the relative portion of ad inventory available to a single advertiser within a defined market over a specified time period.  

An electronic device that has the ability to connect with other devices through internet connection. Examples of this include smartphones, laptops, tablets, etc.

Any media distributed over the internet. This can be done on either computers or mobile devices, as long as they are connected to the internet. Also see Streaming TV and Streaming Radio.

Specifically refers to digital audio content that is pre-recorded and saved as a file, then distributed via the internet. Also see Streaming.

Specifically refers to television content distributed over the internet, whether live or recorded. Also see Streaming.

The intended audience for an ad, usually defined in terms of specific demographics (age, gender) and psychographics (interests, behaviors).

A data regulation requiring businesses to disclose how the consumer’s data is being used and allowing them to opt out of said usage. While CCPA is restricted to California, many states are in the works to enforce their own privacy laws. Also see Data Compliance.

A legal framework that enhances privacy rights and consumer protection for residents of California, USA. It builds upon the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and introduces new regulations regarding the collection, use, and sharing of personal information. This act builds on the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). Some of the developments include, exclusion of de-identified or aggregate information, expanded definition of personal information, partial exemption for employee data, clarification on financial incentives, mandatory “Do Not Sell My Personal Information” link, registration requirement for data brokers, private right of action for consumers, and 45-day period for business response starts upon receiving a verifiable request.

Independent outsourced companies that specialize in managing, maintaining, serving, tracking, and analyzing the results of online ad campaigns.

A small text file stored on a user’s computer by a party that is not related to the website/brand/publisher or the user. For example, Data Aggregator or Demand Side Platform, etc. It is used to track the user’s activities across multiple websites. Support for this is being sunset in late 2023.

Information that an established data company collects indirectly or aggregates from others and then sells to ad buyers. Data aggregators still own the information, even after selling.

A unique identifier, usually a long string of random characters, attached to modern hardware connected to the internet such as an iPhone or a SmartTV for the purpose of advertising and identification. The UDID lasts until the device is reset or the account is deleted.

Content created by individuals rather than a brand or agency, published on various platforms, online or through social networks. It can also be perilous for brand safety, as there is usually less regulation and limited guarantee as to the nature and quality of the content provided. Also see Digital Video.

A verified signal that demonstrates clear association and intent.

A universal XML schema for serving ads to digital video players.

Number of completed video plays divided by the number of video starts.

As defined by the Media Ratings Council, a viewable impression is one where 50% of pixels are in view in an active browser tab for one second banners, and two seconds for video. Viewability is a metric that addresses an ad’s opportunity to be seen by a viewer.

A measurement of how many people saw an ad and eventually visited the advertiser’s site.

As defined by the Media Ratings Council, a viewable impression is one where 50% of pixels are in view in an active browser tab for one second for banners, and two seconds for video. Viewability is a metric that addresses an ad’s opportunity to be seen by a viewer.

As defined by Group M, a viewable video impression is one where 100% of a video player’s pixels are in view in an active browser tab for half the length of the video, and banners are 100% pixels in view for 2 seconds. Viewability is a metric that addresses an ad’s opportunity to be seen by a viewer.

Cost per thousand viewable ads served – a simple calculation for vCPM = CPM / viewability rate.

Refers to the barrier created by big tech companies who have massive amounts of consumer data but want to keep advertisers and brands in their own ecosystem. This is done inside the walled gardens, instead of making the audiences and insights accessible outside of their tech stacks. Examples include Google and Facebook.

This is a type of first-party data in which the data is collected from the consumer in exchange for something that benefits them. Examples of zero-party data are form fills, downloads, registering for a webinar or event, or even scheduling a test drive to receive a gift card. Also see First-Party Data.