Programmatic advertising can be difficult to understand if you’re unfamiliar with the process. To help make sense of it, we have provided a list of key terms and actors in the programmatic digital media supply chain.
Ad Exchange – the space in the Programmatic Advertising system where brands/agencies and publishers buy and sell inventory
Buyer – brands and agencies who purchase inventory (ad space) from publishers
Cost Per Thousand (CPM) – the value of an impression proposed by buyers and set by publishers; the highest CPM bid by the buyer wins the impression
Click-Through Rate (CTR) – a measurement for marketers to determine how many times a link was clicked
Data Management Platform (DMP) – platforms used by marketers to collect, organize, and utilize data to market to their target audience in programmatic advertising campaigns
Data Suppliers (also known as Data Providers) – provide brands and agencies with third-party data to use alongside their first-party data
Demand-Side Platform (DSP) – a place for buyers to store creatives or ads and learn about available inventory from publishers
Deterministic Data – data that consists of unique identifiers (like usernames, email addresses, and phone numbers) that determine who individuals are; often provided by consumers themselves
First-Party Data – data that a brand has collected from its owned properties – like on their website or at point of sale
Inventory – also known as ad space or impressions, which publishers sell to buyers
Private Marketplace (PMP) – a variation of RTB (Real-Time Bidding) where only a select number of advertisers bid for ad space
Probabilistic Data – data that is used to segment consumers based on their characteristics and behaviors online
Programmatic Advertising – an automated system designed for marketers and publishers to buy and sell ad space
Programmatic Direct – a process in which inventory is not being auctioned off by publishers. There is only one buyer purchasing inventory at a fixed, negotiated CPM
Public (Open) Auction – utilized by publishers in the RTB process to make their inventory available to all buyers in the Ad Exchange
Publisher – sells ad space to brands and agencies through SSPs (Supply Side Platform) to monetize their websites; determines CPM of ad space
Real-Time Bidding (RTB) – the process in which digital advertising is bought and sold via auction instantaneously
Supply-Side Platform (SSP) – where publishers sell their inventory
Third-Party Data – audience information that is provided by Data Suppliers to brands and agencies to augment their first-party data and expand reach; Tip: Many data suppliers lack high-quality data. Make sure yours can provide data that is multi-sourced and validated.
Read our Introduction to Programmatic Advertising blog to learn how programmatic works and how it can extend your audience reach.
Make sure to bookmark this page, so you can reference key terms as we dive deeper into Programmatic Advertising.
Learn more about Redi-Data Digital – our new solution to reaching Healthcare Providers (HCPs) online in the programmatic space.