Above the fold (ATF): Derived from newspaper print advertising, this means that an ad is placed on a website above the scroll line as the page is viewed before any scrolling occurs; in view before scrolling.
Ad blocker: Software designed to filter or remove ads—pop-ups, for example—from online content. Users add such programs to their web browsers. Ad blockers work by recognizing ad server tags.
Ad network: They provide an outsourced sales capability for publishers and a means to aggregate inventory and audiences from numerous sources in a single buying opportunity for media buyers.
Ad ops: Stands for “advertising operations”, the team/function that is responsible for trafficking and optimizing digital ad campaigns.
Ad server: A web server dedicated to the delivery of advertisement. This specialization enables the tracking and management of advertising related metrics.
Ad unit: Represents the spaces on your website where you want to show ads.
AdSense: A supply-side program run by Google that allows publishers to earn money by allowing Google to place ads on their site. AdSense is to publishers what Google Ads is for advertisers.
Below the fold (BTF): A term derived from newspaper print advertising, this means that an ad is placed on a website below the scroll line as the page is viewed before any scrolling occurs; out of view before scrolling
CCPA: California Consumer Privacy Act is a state statute intended to enhance privacy rights and consumer protection for residents of California, United States.
Click through rate (CTR): The percentage of ad impressions that were clicked on as compared to the entire number of clicks [CTR% = (clicks ÷ imps) x 100], ratio of users who click on a specific link to the number of total users who view a page, email, or advertisement.
Conversion: Occurs when the user performs the specific action that the advertiser has defined as the campaign goal. Conversions are often tracked by a web beacon, called a conversion pixel.
Cost per thousand (CPM): Literally CPM is “cost per mille”, mille is Latin meaning thousand. In web advertising, this abbreviation is used to mean cost per 1,000 impressions.
Content layout shift: A layout shift occurs when a visible element on your page changes position or size, affecting the position of content around it. For advertising, it’s important that ad units above the fold do not shift in height, as this will cause a content layout shift violation with Google. For example, if a flexible ad unit is in a location above the fold, make sure the size options of that ad unit are of equal height (such as 970×90 and 728×90).
Creative: A specific advertisement, such as an image file, a video file, or other content. It’s what gets delivered to users.
Demand-side platform (DSP): Software often used by advertisers to automate purchasing advertising by scanning ad exchanges for their targeted audiences.
Direct advertising: A one-to-one relationship between the advertiser and publisher. The process of traditional direct advertising is manual and involves significant personal communication. In direct sales, impressions are sold to advertisers who want to have their ads seen on a specific website, versus programmatic advertising where their ads are shown to a specific audience regardless of the website.
Display advertising: Advertising online via images/text in spaces reserved for ads.
Fill rate: The percentage of ad requests that end up actually being filled with an ad creative.
GDPR: Short for General Data Protection Regulation, is a European Union law governing digital data collection, use and storage. It took effect in May 2018. GDPR is intended to protect individuals’ data privacy and requires that companies within the EU clearly explain how personal data is collected and used. EU citizens can object to their data being used for direct marketing, for example.
Google Ad Manager: An ad server and ad management platform for publishers who have direct sales. Ad Manager provides granular controls and supports multiple ad exchanges and networks, including AdSense, Ad Exchange, third-party networks, and third-party exchanges.
Google Ads: A demand-side program run by Google that allows businesses and marketers to advertise on Google’s network. Google Ads is to advertisers what AdSense is for publishers.
Impression: The count of ads which are served to a user.
International Advertising Bureau (IAB): An advertising business organization that develops industry standards, conducts research, and provides legal support for the online advertising industry.
Inventory: The amount of space or the number of advertisements a publisher has available to sell to advertisers.
Key-values: Custom targeting designators that can be used for a variety of purposes and are often used to identify specific sections of your site like category or post ID.
Line item: Holds information about the specific run dates, targeting, and pricing of one or a set of creatives that will be delivered, including which ad units and placements are targeted. Every line item is contained within an order in Google Ad Manager.
Monetization: Utilizing existing website traffic to produce revenue, often via ads or affiliate links.
Native advertising: Paid media that mimics the user experience of the website on which it is used, blending into surroundings to look like the publisher’s content.
Order: A representation in Google Ad Manager of an agreement with an advertiser. It contains one or more line items.
Preroll: A video ad that plays before selected video content.
Programmatic advertising: Automated buying and selling ad inventory, utilizing software to make data-driven decisions.
Supply-side platform (SSP): Software often used by online publishers to automate selling advertising by connecting to multiple ad exchanges.
Targeting: Designating ads and their delivery to reach specific audiences through behaviors and locations, among other qualifiers.
Trafficking: Ad trafficking is the process of setting up and tracking an ad campaign. An “ad trafficker” is the person doing the ad campaign set up in the ad server.
Viewability: Metric focused on ad impressions actually seen by users. An impression will not be deemed “viewable” if a user does not scroll down far enough on a page to see the ad. The IAB standards require at least 50% of a display ad to be in view on a screen for at least one second (two seconds for video ads) for an ad to be counted as viewable.
WordAds: The official WordPress.com advertising program for site owners. This program features ads from external ad networks such as Google, Facebook, AOL, and more.
Yield: The amount of revenue you earn from ads on your site.
Advertising Table of Contents