Knowledge

Glossary

Stay ahead and check out our glossary!

Action

A behaviour a visitor may perform, such as visiting a web page, reading an article, viewing or clicking on a banner ad, watching a video, playing a game, submitting a form or purchasing a product. Each time a user performs one of these predefined actions, a request is sent to the servers of Adhese.

Ad exchange

A digital marketplace where publishers and advertisers buy and sell advertising inventory, often through real-time auctions.

Ad network

A company that aggregates inventory from multiple publishers and sells it to advertisers, typically packaged by audience or context.

Ad request

The request to deliver an ad at a specific position as a direct result of a user’s action, as recorded by the ad server.

Ad server

A technology platform used by publishers, advertisers, and ad networks to manage, deliver, and track digital advertisements.io Ad servers store advertising content, decide which ads to display to users based on targeting criteria (such as demographics, location, or browsing behaviour), and record data on ad performance – such as impressns, clicks, and conversions. They are essential for automating and optimising the process of serving ads across websites, apps, and other digital channels.

Ad serving

The technology responsible for delivering advertising campaigns from a server to an end-user client (such as a browser), where the ads are then displayed and cached.

Ad spend

The total amount of money spent on ad campaigns

Ad tag

A piece of HTML or JavaScript code inserted into the source code of a web page. For each main format, such as Leaderboard or Skyscraper, you will need to implement an Ad tag in the location where you want the format to run.

Addressability

The ability to recognise or reach a specific user or audience segment across environments in a privacy-compliant way.

ADM

Administrative cost is an advertising pricing model in which the advertiser pays a price that is independent of volume or duration.

Advar template

JavaScript files for adding extra functionality and CSS style rules for designing your online ads. Advar templates are pre-made ads, such as text ads, native ads or pre-roll video ads.

API

Application Programming Interface determines how two applications communicate with each other. The API provides access to inventory and performance data in the Adhese database for campaign planning and reporting. You can also use the API to create, manage and update campaigns and bookings.

Audience segment

A group of users who share common characteristics such as behaviour, interests or demographics, used for targeting.

Audience targeting

The practice of delivering advertising to specific audience segments based on characteristics such as behaviour, interests, demographics or purchase intent.

Auto-delivery

The automatic distribution of impressions for a campaign is determined by the percentage set by Adhese for the selected booking based on its characteristics and competing bookings.

Bid request

A call sent from the supply side to potential buyers asking them to submit a price and creative for a specific impression opportunity.

Booking

A combination of a position and a period determines where, when, how and to whom a campaign is delivered.

Brand safety

Practices and technologies that prevent ads from appearing next to unsuitable or harmful content.

Buyer

An advertiser or agency purchasing media, directly or programmatically.

Cache busting

The process by which sites or servers serve content in a way that prevents browsers from serving content from their cache. This forces the browser to fetch a fresh copy for each request, ensuring that reporting accurately reflects the actual views or impressions of an individual ad creative.

Campaign

A grouping of booking conditions and creatives.

Channel

A grouping of identical positions across different locations within your network (e.g., run-of-network), your website (e.g., run-of-site), or any other custom combination.

Click tag

A parameter used in ad creatives. It is a variable that defines the landing page URL from the markup code.

Click-through rate (CTR)

The ratio of clicks to impressions.

Clicks

The measurement of a user clicking on a link within an ad creative that redirects the user to the advertiser’s landing page or target URL.

Clicks per contact

The ratio of clicks to the number of contacts.

Client

A computer or software program that makes contact with a server to obtain data over the Internet, such as a web browser.

Commerce media

Advertising that takes place across a commerce ecosystem, using transactional, behavioural or intent data from retailers, marketplaces or commerce platforms. Commerce media includes on-site, off-site and in-store advertising, and enables advertisers to reach audiences based on real purchase signals.

Companion ad

Text, display ads, rich media, or skins that wrap around the video experience.

Competing campaigns

Campaigns booked at the same position as the selected campaign.

Contact

A unique visitor who accesses a website.

Contextual advertising

Advertising delivered based on the content or context of the page rather than on user identity or behavioural data.

Contextual targeting

Serving ads based on the content of the page rather than on user identifiers.

Cookie

Cookies are small packets of data. When someone visits your website for the first time, the cookie and its unique tracking ID are downloaded and stored on the user’s internet browser.

Cookieless

Describes an environment, technology, or approach that operates without relying on cookies for tracking, personalisation, or data collection. This often involves alternative methods (e.g., server-side tracking, contextual advertising, or first-party data) to achieve similar goals while complying with privacy regulations like GDPR or addressing user concerns about data privacy.

Cookies

Small pieces of data stored on a user’s device by websites to track activity, remember preferences, or enable targeted advertising.

CPC

Cost per click is an advertising pricing model in which the advertiser pays for each click.

CPD

Cost per day is an advertising pricing model in which the advertisers pay a daily fixed fee.

CPL

Cost per lead is an advertising pricing model in which advertising costs are based on a visitor taking a specifically defined action in response to an ad creative (such as a sales transaction or newsletter subscription).

CPM

Cost Per Mille. Cost per thousand impressions is an advertising pricing model where the advertiser pays for every thousand impressions served.

CPP

Cost per period is an advertising pricing model where the advertiser pays a cost for a fixed delivery period, regardless of the number of impressions or clicks.

Creative

The file that contains the visual representation of the advertiser’s campaign.

Creative status

Indicates whether or not creatives are uploaded to a campaign or attached to a booking.

Creative template

A piece of code wrapped around each creative of the format to which it is applied.

Daily contacts

The number of unique visitors on a daily basis. If ten different people visit on day one, five new people visit on day two, and five people who also visited on day one, the total number of daily contacts is twenty people, even if the absolute number of unique visitors is only fifteen.

Data clean room

A secure environment where parties can match and analyse data sets without sharing raw, user-level information.

Data privacy

The principle that individuals control their personal data, including the way it is stored, collected and used by others.

Deal ID

A unique identifier that allows buyers and sellers to transact inventory under pre-agreed conditions within programmatic pipes.

Delivery method

Indicates how impressions are distributed.

Delivery multiples

An option to combine or exclude delivery of a campaign’s bookings.

Delivery rate

Estimates whether or not a booking’s delivery is on schedule. Several variables are taken into account, including the number of impressions to be delivered and the actual number of impressions delivered. (see Delivery overview).

Demand

The advertising interest or buying pressure for available inventory.

Demand-Side Platform (DSP)

Software used by advertisers and agencies to buy inventory programmatically from multiple sources.

Device type

The type of device a visitor uses to access a publication, for example, a desktop, tablet, or smartphone.

DOOH

Digital Out-of-Home is the term for offline billboard and display marketing that occurs outside of the user’s personal devices. Examples are digital billboard ads, screen advertisements in supermarkets or even personalised promotions on digital price tags

eCPC

The effective cost per click (eCPC) is calculated by dividing the total earnings by the total number of clicks.

eCPM

The effective cost per thousand impressions. The eCPM is calculated by dividing the total revenue by the total number of thousand impressions delivered. The eCPM indicates how much a booking would have cost if it had been sold on a CPM basis. See eCPM benchmark.

Expandable ad

A creative that expands beyond its original size into a larger creative through user interaction.

Fill rate

Indicates the percentage of a position’s total available inventory volume sold. For more information on calculating the fill rate, refer to Monthly inventory.

First-party data

Information a publisher collects directly from its own audience through its platforms and interactions.

Floor price

The minimum price at which a publisher is willing to sell an impression.

Forecasting

The estimation of future inventory availability and campaign delivery based on historical data, traffic patterns and booked campaigns.

Format

A definition of the creative requirements, such as file size and dimensions.

Frequency capping

Limiting how often a given ad is shown to an individual visitor to your site (see User frequency cap).

Gateway

The Gateway links and enables your internal inventory to be made available to external parties, programmatically or directly, using the IAB OpenRTB protocol.

Header status

Indicates if there is a problem with the header of the campaign.

Identity solution

Technology that helps recognise users across sessions or environments while respecting privacy rules.

Impression

A measurement of responses from Adhese to an ad request from the user’s client (see Impression measurement).

In-store advertising

Any paid or owned marketing message, whether traditional (printed posters, banners) or digital (screens, apps), displayed inside a physical retail environment to influence consumers at the point of purchase. It is designed to drive impulse buys, boost brand awareness, and enhance the shopping experience.

In-store media

Digital or physical advertising placements within a retail store environment, such as digital screens or smart displays.

Instream video

Instream video ads are generally associated with longer-form videos and are well-suited for delivering brand messages, product demonstrations or storytelling experiences. They can be delivered at any point in the main video (before, during, or after).

Inventory

Advertising space available for sale across your network or across all positions. The impression metric expresses the volume of advertising space available.

Inventory monetisation

The process of generating advertising revenue from available inventory using direct sales, programmatic demand or other monetisation strategies.

Inventory share

The percentage of the expected inventory volume of the booked item that a booking claims.

Location

A (sub)section within a publication, such as the home page, the local news or lifestyle section, or the daily newsletter.

Logfile

A file that records transactions that have taken place on the server. Some data that may be collected is the date/time stamp, URL served, IP address, previous URL, etc.

Metadata

Additional information about a campaign.

Monetisation

The process of generating revenue from available inventory.

Off-site advertising

Advertising delivered outside a retailer’s or publisher’s owned properties, using their audience data to reach users across external platforms.

Offer

A simulation of a campaign used to propose potential campaigns to advertisers, together with an indication of the cost price of the campaign. (see Offers and options).

Omnichannel advertising

Advertising delivered across multiple channels, such as web, app, email, in-store and off-site environments, within a coordinated strategy.

On-site advertising

Advertising displayed within a retailer’s or publisher’s owned digital properties, such as websites or mobile applications.

Open auction

Programmatic buying where any authorised buyer can bid on available impressions.

Option

A campaign proposal with “shelf life”. It allows you to plan pending campaigns (see Offers and options).

Outstream video

Outstream video provides a non-disruptive experience as it blends in with the surrounding content and does not interrupt the primary video being watched.

Over-delivery percentage

Used to avoid reporting discrepancies with third-party ad servers. If the percentage is 2%, the campaign will deliver 2% more than the initial booked volume. (see System-wide over-delivery).

Parameter

The information that Adhese collects along with the action. Parameters provide a greater insight into who is doing what, where and how these actions occur.

Platform

How a publisher distributes its content to its audience, such as a website, newsletter or application.

Position

A combination of a location and a format.

Position template

A template linked to a specific position, such as a leaderboard on a homepage, contains a wrapper for all ads served on that position.

Position type

Adds additional functionality to a position, such as the ability to load multiple types of ad formats into one position. (see Position types).

PPID

Publisher-Provided IDentifier. A PPID is assigned to a user by a publisher. Publishers typically associate a PPID with a logged-in user or customer profile that corresponds to a single identified user. Used for features like User Frequency Capping.

Priority

Determines how important it is for the campaign to achieve its objectives within the specified time frame compared to competing campaigns.

Private marketplace (PMP)

An invitation-only programmatic environment where selected buyers receive priority access or special terms.

Programmatic advertising

The automated buying and selling of digital advertising using software and data.

Progress status

The ratio of impressions already served to the number of impressions required.

Publication

A publisher maintains one or more online publications, such as a blog, video channel, newsletter, smartphone app, web shop or the online version of a printed newspaper.

Publisher

A distributor of content via one or more media platforms.

Render rate

The likelihood of a sold ad request turning into an impression. The formula for the Render Rate is: (Total Measured Impressions / Total Sold Ad Requests) * 100 = Render Rate %.

Retail media

Advertising offered by retailers using their owned audience data and environments.

Retail Media as a Service

A fully managed retail media model that combines our platform with operational expertise to help you launch, run, and grow your retail media business with confidence, transparency, and performance at its core.

Retail Media Network (RMN)

A retailer’s advertising ecosystem consisting of its owned and operated media channels, first-party data and technology infrastructure, used to sell and deliver advertising to brands.

RON

Run of Network: the delivery of an advertising campaign across multiple sites within a publisher’s network.

ROS

Run of Site: the delivery of an advertising campaign across a publisher’s entire website.

Rotation delivery

If the delivery method is set to rotation, each creative attached to the same position has an equal chance of being delivered.

Running status

Indicates the ‘health’ or state of the campaign or booking, and whether there are any issues that may affect the start or delivery of a campaign.

Server response

The necessary information Adhese returns in response to a request.

Sold ad request

The number of ad requests where the ad server responds with an ad.

SOV delivery method

Share of Voice refers to the booking reserving a portion (share) of the position’s expected volume of impressions (voice). The delivery percentage indicates the percentage the booking must deliver. If the delivery percentage is set at 20%, the booking will be delivered once every five impressions.

Stack format

A stack format sends the client (e.g. a browser) a list of ads that can be displayed for the position at that time. It is up to the client to decide which ad will be displayed.

Supply

The volume of impressions available for sale.

Supply-Side Platform (SSP)

Technology that enables publishers to manage, sell and optimise their inventory.

Target URL

The website that is visited when an ad is clicked on. Also known as the landing page.

Targeting

The process of optimising campaign performance by, for example, tailoring delivery to the profile of your audience. See Targeting for the various targeting techniques.

Team campaign

Campaigns run by users with the same user level and parent publisher as the logged-in user.

Template

Formats that are more complex than the IAB Standard Formats, as templates are characterized by advanced functionality.

Third-party discrepancy

Differences between reports from a publisher and an advertiser. Refer to Third-party discrepancies for more information on resolving these discrepancies.

Third-party tag

A piece of JavaScript code provided by a third party, usually the advertiser’s ad server (see Add a third-party tag).

Timestamp

A unique piece of code that is added to an ad request to prevent a browser from reusing a previously cached file of the same ad.

Track request

A request that is executed after the initial ad request and acts as an impression request.

Traffic status

Checks if the linking of a booking to a creative in a campaign is correct.

Unified auction

A setup in which multiple demand sources compete simultaneously in the same auction.

Unique visitor

A unique individual or browser which accesses a website (see also contact).

VAST

Video Ad Serving Template (VAST) is a standard for communication requirements between ad servers and video players. VAST enables the scalable delivery of video advertising campaigns to video players from multiple vendors, as ad servers must use a single ad response format regardless of the video player’s technology.

Viewable impressions

Impressions that have an actual chance to be seen by the visitor.

Visitor

An individual (or browser) that accesses a website.

Weight

Indicates how the delivery of a creative is distributed relative to other creatives attached to the same booking (see Weight per creative).

Wikan

Wikan is the web interface used to alter the configuration of Adhese Gateway.

Yield management

The process of maximising advertising revenue by optimising pricing, allocation and delivery of inventory across different demand sources.

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