The A to Z of Programmatic: 4th Edition

What is it?
The A to Z of Programmatic is 
a tool to help digital marketers cut
through the noise of our industry’s
tough-to-decipher acronyms and
expressions, so they can discover 
the true value behind the buzzwords.
Please note that all definitions are specific to how these
terms are used in the digital marketing industry.

1, 2, 3
1st Party Data
2nd Party Data
3rd Party Data
Aa
Acquisition
Action
Ad Exchange
Ad Fraud
Ad Impression
Ad Network
Ad Server
Ad Space
Advocacy
Agency Trading Desk
App Analytics Tool (AAT)
App Funnel
App Re-Engagement
App Store Optimization (ASO)
Application Programming
Interface (API)
Average Revenue Per User
(ARPU)
Awareness
Bb
Banner Ad
Bid
Bid Request
Cc
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
Companion Banner
Completion Rate
Conversion
Conversion Rate (CR)
Cookie
Cost Per Action (CPA)
Cost Per Click (CPC)
Cost Per Completed View (CPCV)
Cost Per Mille (CPM)
Cost Per Order (CPO)
Cost Per View (CPV)
Cross-Device Recognition
Cross-Selling
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
Index
Click a term to go directly
to the deﬁnition.
Return to Index

Dd
Daily Active Users (DAU)
Data Management Platform 
(DMP)
Day N (dN)
Demand-Side Platform (DSP)
Desire
Digital Video Landscape
Display
Dynamic Creative Optimization
(DCO)
Ee
Effective CPA (eCPA)
Engagement Rate
Event
Ff
Frequency Capping
Full Funnel
Gg
Geotargeting
Hh
HTML5
Ii
In-App Advertising
In-Banner Video
In-Stream Video
Interest
Jj
JavaScript
Kk
Key Performance Indicator (KPI)
Ll
Lead
Loyalty
Mm
M-Commerce
Monthly Active User (MAU)
Nn
Native Advertising
Native Video
Negative Retargeting
Oo
Omnichannel
Open Exchange
Open RTB
Opt-In
Opt-Out
Return to Index

Out-Stream Video
Pp
Page View
Preferred Deal
Pre-Roll
Price Floor
Private Auction
Private Marketplace (PMP)
Programmatic
Programmatic Direct Deal
Programmatic Video
Rr
Reach
Real-Time Bidding (RTB)
Retargeting
Retention Rate
Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)
Return on Investment (ROI)
Rich Media
Ss
Session
Session Interval
Session Length
Software Development Kit
(SDK)
SSL Certificate
Streaming CRM
Supply-Side Platform (SSP)
Tt
Targeting
Uu
Unique User
Upselling
Vv
Vertical Video
Video Completion Rate (VCR)
Viewability
View Length (Quartiles)
View-Through Rate (VTR)
Ww
Weekly Active Users (WAU)
World Wide Web (WWW)
Xx
XML
Yy
Yield
Zz
Zero Win Rate
Return to Index

1st Party Data
Information collected directly by an advertiser
about its audience or customers based on a
direct relationship. This type of data is often
collected using browser cookies to measure
on-website behaviors, but it can also be
combined with other types of online and offline
data such as website analytics, CRM profiles,
business analytics, loyalty program data, yield
or revenue management data and more.

2nd Party Data
Data that is collected by an advertiser (which
makes it that entity’s first-party) and is then
traded with other non-competitive advertisers.
Depending on how you view it, this data, when
in the hands of a second advertiser that did not
collect it via a direct relationship, could also
just be considered third-party data.
3rd Party Data
Information that is collected by an entity 
that does not have a direct relationship 
with the users about which the information
is collected. Third-party data is typically
used when advertisers pay a data vendor 
to help them reach users with specific
characteristics.

Act of getting new customers.
Acquisition

Action
A measureable digital interaction, such as
when the user clicks the ad, interacts with a
landing page or web form or completes a
purchase. The measurability of actions in
digital has given rise to a wide range of
performance marketing channels. In the full-
funnel marketing model, it is the fourth stage 
in the customer journey, after Desire and
before Loyalty.
Ad Exchange
Digital marketplace that enables advertisers
and publishers to buy and sell advertising
space, often through real-time auctions.

Ad Fraud
Any type of illegal activity of online advertising
including non-human traffic, malware that
redirects users to third party websites or
multiple ads placed on top of each other so
that advertisers are charged for ad placements
that are never even visible to website visitors.
Ad fraud is a growing problem in the online
advertising industry and organizations like the
Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) are
working hard to reduce the amount of ad fraud
in the industry.
Ad Impression
When an ad is displayed on a page, regardless
of whether the ad has been clicked on or not.
Ad Network
Ad networks aggregate supply (inventory)
and demand (ads) and in most cases add
their own third-party data as well as
targeting and optimization technologies. Ad
networks often monetize by arbitraging
through re-selling.

A server that stores advertisements for
online marketing and delivers them to
website visitors.
Ad Space
Area of a website set aside for online
advertisements.
Ad Server Advocacy
The sixth and final stage of the full-funnel
marketing model, following Loyalty, in which a
customer becomes brand advocate and
convinces others to purchase product.

Agency Trading Desk
A centralized, service-based organization that
serves as a managed service layer, typically on
top of a licensed demand-side platform (DSP)
and other audience buying technologies;
manages programmatic, bid-based media and
audience buying. Works as an agency’s
internal tool for programmatic media buying.
Often abbreviated ATD.

App Analytics
Tool (AAT)
A tool to measure and analyze the traffic/user
behaviors of mobile apps. Most of the ATTs
have their software development kits (SDKs)
integrated in the app of the client, and in this
way can measure third-party vendors, passing
user-level data back to the app owner.

A set of events that provides insight into how
users interact with a mobile app. App funnels
allow tracking of user behavior paths leading to
in-app actions, such as a purchase.
App Re-Engagement
Two out of three mobile apps are
downloaded and never opened. A re-
engagement campaign is run with the intent
of driving in-app actions from app users 
who have already have downloaded a
mobile app.
App Funnel App Store 
Optimization (ASO)
The process of adjusting the presentation of a
mobile app or its features in order to gain a
higher rank higher app store search results.
The main purpose of ASO is to increase
visibility to potential users. The practice
includes optimization of elements such as: title,
keywords, description and images/
screenshots.

Application Programming
Interface (API)
A set of definitions, protocols and tools for
building software and applications. An API
specifies how software components should
interact and APIs are used when programming
graphical user interface (GUI) components. A
good API makes it easier to develop a program
by providing all the building blocks. A
programmer then puts the blocks together.
Average Revenue
Per User (ARPU)
A measure of the revenue that a business has
from its business activities divided by the
number of customers/users.
Awareness
First stage of full-funnel marketing model,
before Interest, when a potential customer
becomes aware of the existence of a brand,
product or service.

Form of advertising on the World Wide 
Web delivered by an ad server. This form 
of online advertising entails embedding 
an image-based advertisement into a web
page. It is intended to attract traffic to a
website by linking to the website of the
advertiser.
Banner Ad

Bid
With regards to real-time bidding (RTB), the 
bid is the price offer put forward by an
advertiser via a demand-side platform for an
ad impression that is put into the real-time
auction. In most RTB models, the winning
bidder pays one cent more than the second-
highest bid placed.
Bid Request
When a user loads a web page and an ad
server calls the ad exchange for a given
impression, it submits a bid request to all
eligible buyers. Buyers then assess the value
of the impression and submit bids in real-time
(in a matter of milliseconds) to compete for the
ad placement on this page.

A measure of the share of ad impressions
that leads to a click.
Click-Through Rate
(CTR)

A clickable banner that appears next to a 
video ad.
Completion Rate
Also known as View-Through Rate (VTR) or
Video Completion Rate (VCR). A KPI that
shows the percentage of all video ads that
play the entire duration of a video. Total
number of video ads that play the entire
duration divided by total number of video ads.
Companion Banner Conversion
When someone clicks an ad and then
completes a pre-defined action, such as
completion of a lead form or online transaction.
Conversion Rate (CR)
A measure of the percentage of ad clicks that
resulted in conversions. It is calculated by
dividing the number of conversions by the
number of clicks and multiplying by 100.

Small piece of data sent from a website that is
stored in a user's web browser while the user
is browsing that website.
Cookie
Cost Per Action (CPA)
A pricing model for online advertising in which
the advertiser pays only for the completion of 
a specified action, such as the completion of a
lead form (contact request, newsletter sign up,
registration etc.), double opt-in or purchase.
Even when the pricing model for a campaign 
is not CPA, a CPA target may can set to
measure performance.
Cost Per Click (CPC)
the advertiser pays only when a user clicks 
the advertisement.
Cost Per Completed
View (CPCV)
A KPI that shows the cost per completed view
for each video ad: total ad spend divided by
total completed views.

the advertiser pays a given price for each 1000
ad impressions. This was the standard pricing
model used in traditional print advertising and
is one of the oldest pricing models used in
online today.
Cost Per Mille (CPM)
Also sometimes CPP (cost per purchase), this
is a measure of the cost spent to generate an
online order or purchase.
Cost Per Order (CPO)

Action or practice of selling an additional
product or service to an existing customer,
especially based on previous purchases.
Cross-Selling
Customer Lifetime
Value (CLV)
Prediction of the net profit attributed to the
entire future relationship with a customer. The
prediction model can have varying levels of
sophistication and accuracy, ranging from a
crude heuristic to the use of complex predictive
analytics techniques.
A KPI that shows the cost per view for each
video ad: total ad spend divided by total views.
Cost Per View (CPV)
Identifying a single user across multiple
devices such as desktops, tablets, mobile
devices, even wearables. There are two 
main methods of cross-device recognition:
probabilistic (approximating a matched
identification) and deterministic (guaranteeing
a matched identification).
Cross-Device
Recognition

A measure of the average number of
users who are active on a website or
mobile app during the period of one day.
Daily Active Users
(DAU)

A mobile marketing term used when measuring
user retention in mobile apps, where N refers
to the number of days before the user returns
to the app after installing. It’s often used to
measure the quality of the traffic source, to
gauge the relative efficiency of a channel in
delivering active users.
Day N (dN)
DMPs enable companies to collect, store 
and sort large amounts of complex first- or
third- party data, often in real-time. For
publishers, DMPs are often used to store,
analyze and package audience data;
marketers might work with DMPs to help with
using data for digital advertising according 
to different CRM-related taxonomies.
Data Management
Platform (DMP)

A technology platform that allows buyers of
digital advertising inventory to manage multiple
ad exchange and data exchange accounts
through one interface. The key functionality is
the ability to purchase display advertising
programmatically via real-time bidding (RTB),
using data to determine the value of individual
ad impressions in real-time.
Demand-Side
Platform (DSP)

Graphical advertising on the World Wide Web
that appears next to content on web pages, IM
applications, email, etc. These ads, often
referred to as banners, come in standardized
ad sizes, and can include text, logos, pictures,
or more recently, rich media and video.
Display
Third stage of full-funnel marketing model,
after Interest and before Action, when a
potential customer has intent to buy.
Desire
Any environment where video ads are placed,
including digital video inventory of programmatic
video, walled gardens and direct buys.
Digital Video
Landscape

The use of programmatic technologies to
automatically optimize the elements that
appear in a digital display banner. Examples 
of elements that can be optimized on a per-
user basis include products and offers, call-to-
action, promotions and discounts, the colors 
or placement of button or other layers of the
banner, ad copy and more.
Dynamic Creative
Optimization (DCO)

A measure of the actual costs spent to
generate a pre-defined action. Whereas
the CPA is usually a target given before
the start of a campaign, the eCPA is the
measure of the actual results of that
campaign. A comparison of the two can
be a measure of campaign success.
Effective CPA (eCPA)

Different kind of actions that a user takes in a
mobile application. Examples of events include
app downloads, app opens, in-app purchases
and more.
Event
A KPI that shows the percentage of
interactions with a video ad: total number of
interactions with the video ad divided by total
number of views.
Engagement Rate

Restricting the number of times a specific
user is shown advertising. A “universal
frequency cap” refers to the ability of a
DSP to offer a comprehensive frequency
cap number for its entire range of
inventory, rather than on a per-publisher
or per-network basis.
Frequency Capping

A marketing strategy or tool which allows the
marketer to address potential buyers
throughout the different stages of the purchase
funnel, from Awareness, to Interest, to Desire
to Action, which is placed at the bottom of the
funnel. (The funnel shape is meant to refer to
the number of users in each category, which
narrows with each stage.) In some more recent
models, the “funnel” is swapped for an
hourglass shape, and beyond the “action” point
there is Loyalty and Advocacy.
Full Funnel

Method of determining the approximate
geolocation of a user and delivering
different content to that visitor based on
his or her location, such as country,
region/state, city, zip code, organization,
IP address, ISP or other criteria.
Geotargeting HTML5
Core technology markup language of the
Internet used for structuring and presenting
content for the World Wide Web. Unlike
Flash, which requires the installation of
Adobe’s proprietary browser plugin, HTML5
is the one open, industry-standard, universal
format for building dynamic online creative.

Any advertising that is seen inside of a
mobile application (“app”) as opposed to
a mobile web browser.
In-App Advertising

A form of video advertising that is played
before (pre-roll), during (mid-roll) or after
(post-roll) streaming video content — e.g.,
videos on YouTube or any website that
others video content.
In-Stream Video
A video clip that plays within a display banner
as opposed to another media format. In-banner
videos rely on the existence of display ad
inventory on the publisher’s webpage. As the
format is not specially built for videos, the user
experience is much poorer compared to native,
in-stream or out-stream videos.
In-Banner Video
Second stage of the full-funnel marketing
model, after Awareness and before Desire,
when a potential customer has become more
interested in a brand.
Interest

An object-oriented computer
programming language commonly used
to create interactive effects within web
browsers. In digital advertising it is often
used to create and implement tracking
codes for websites.
JavaScript Key Performance
Indicator (KPI)
Metric used to quantify objectives that
reflect the strategic performance of online
marketing campaigns. Marketers use a
range of use KPIs to evaluate their
success at reaching targets. Examples
are Click-Through-Rate, Conversion Rate,
Return on (Marketing) Investment, Time
on Site and Bounce Rate.

When a user completes a sign-up or contact
form or otherwise indicates interest in an
advertiser’s offer by offering contact details
or other personal information.
Lead
Fifth stage of full funnel marketing model, 
after Action and before Advocacy, in which 
a converted customer (someone who has
already made a purchase) returns to the 
brand to buy again.
Loyalty

An abbreviation that stands for “mobile
commerce” and refers to electronic
commerce (e-commerce) conducted 
on mobile devices such as smartphones
or tablets.
M-Commerce
A measure of the average number of users
who are active on a website or mobile app
during the period of one month.
Monthly Active
User (MAU)

For brand advertisers, native refers to
creative that matches the look and feel 
of a publisher’s content, in order to create
advertising that is less disruptive to the
overall content experience. The most
prominent digital example is Facebook’s
Newsfeed advertising.
Native Advertising
A paid media format that naturally mimics the
design of a page’s content. Native video ads
usually include a headline and copy for the ad.
Native Video

In a retargeting campaign, this is the practice
of moving a user into a new segment after
conversion so that s/he will either not be
targeted any longer, not be targeted for a 
given period, or be targeted with ads that 
do not display the same items or services
already purchased.
Negative Retargeting

A multichannel approach to sales that seeks
to provide the customer with a seamless
shopping experience, whether the customer
is shopping online from a desktop or mobile
device, by telephone, in a brick and mortar
store or by any other means.
Omnichannel

A real-time bidding protocol created by a group
of technology companies in the programmatic
industry that sets a list of standards for real-
time bidding. The development of this protocol
is overseen by the IAB.
http://www.iab.net/guidelines/rtbproject
Open RTB
Also known as open auction, an open
exchange is a public ad inventory auction
place in which publishers can sell individual 
ad impressions to all programmatic buyers
within a given supply-side platform or ad
exchange through real-time bidding.
Open Exchange

A user’s indication that they would not like to
participate, for example when a user opts out
of receiving emails or receiving personalized
advertising from an entity. According to the
online advertising industry’s self-regulatory
framework provided by the EDAA (European
Digital Advertising Alliance), advertisers and
their partners must provide an option for
consumers to be able to opt-out of behaviorally
targeted advertising.
Opt-Out
A user’s indication that they are willing to
participate in a given exchange. According to
the online advertising industry’s self-regulatory
framework provided by the EDAA (European
Digital Advertising Alliance), an opt-in is
required in order to use any personally
identifiable data (PII) for online targeting or
creative optimization.
Opt-In

A form of video advertising that is played
on a publisher page independently of
streaming content.
Out-Stream Video

Number of times a web page is requested
from a server and displayed.
Page View

Online video commercial that appears prior 
to an online video, similar to a commercial
break on TV. By purchased pre-roll slots
programmatically via RTB, marketers can
target individual users.
Pre-Roll
Google AdX defines a “preferred deal” as a
buying arrangement between one publisher
and one programmatic buyer with a fixed floor
price. In order to buy impressions, the buyer
simply has to submit a bid higher than the floor
price, in which case the inventory is always
sold at the floor price. Usually, preferred deals
receive the highest priority within a supply-side
platform ad server chain.
Preferred Deal
The lowest CPM price publishers are willing 
to sell impressions to programmatic buyers in
an auction.
Price Floor

A closed/controlled real-time bidding market
place that allows publishers to control which
demand partners, advertisers, agencies, and
brands buy specific parts of their inventory.
Private Marketplace 
(PMP)
In programmatic buying, a private auction
works in much the same way as open real-time
bidding auction, except that only select
programmatic buyers are permitted to bid
against a pre-agreed minimum floor price.
Private Auction
Digital advertising that is automatically
triggered by any type of event and deployed
according to a set of rules applied by software
and algorithms. Human skills are still needed in
programmatic campaigns as the campaigns
and rules are planned beforehand and
established by marketers. Machine learning is
very often used in programmatic marketing to
provide automated optimization to pre-defined
KPIs. Includes but is not limited to advertising
purchased via real-time bidding.
Programmatic

The automated, data-driven, real-time buying
and selling process of video ads.
Programmatic Video
A deal between a publisher and one or more
select programmatic buyers in which inventory
is sold based on a pre-agreed floor price,
usually in absence of any guaranteed spends
associated with it.
Programmatic
Direct Deal

In advertising, refers to the total number
of different people or households
exposed, at least once, to a medium
during a given period. It can also be used
as an adjective to describe campaigns
that are meant to increase awareness of
a brand rather than drive performance.
Reach

Refers to the means by which ad inventory is
bought and sold on a per-impression basis, via
a programmatic instantaneous auction, similar
to financial markets. With real-time bidding,
advertising buyers bid on an impression and, if
the bid is won, the buyer’s ad is instantly
displayed on the publisher’s site.
Real-Time Bidding (RTB)
Form of online targeted advertising in 
which online advertising is targeted to
consumers based on their previous Internet
actions, in situations where these actions 
did not result in a sale or conversion on an
advertiser’s website.
Retargeting

In advertising, a measure of how much a 
brand manages to keep existing customers,
sometimes with dimensions measuring
customer activity levels. In app marketing,
retention rates have to do with how frequently
and recently a user has opened and interacted
with the app.
Retention Rate

A measure of the ratio of revenues generated
as a result of a particular marketing campaign
relative to advertising costs spent. (Revenue /
Ad Spend) x 100
Return on
Ad Spend (ROAS)
The lowest CPM price publishers are willing 
to sell impressions to programmatic buyers in
an auction.
Return on
Investment (ROI)
Type of online advertising that involves some
kind of user interaction. The initial load of a
Rich Media ad is 40K or more. While text ads
sell with words, and display ads sell with
pictures, Rich Media ads offer more ways to
involve an audience with an ad. The ad can
expand, float, peel down, etc. Sometimes
video advertising online is also treated as 
rich media.
Rich Media

An occurrence of a user visiting a website or
opening a mobile app, often defined by a
specific period of activity.
Session

A measure of the average length of time the
user spends active on a website or app,
typically counted from website/app open to
close (or a period of inactivity).
Session Length
A set of tools that developers need to create
applications. The type of SDK varies
depending on the software, for example an iOS
SDK is necessary for iOS apps, a java SDK is
required for Android apps, and so forth. In the
case of online advertising, an SDK can enable
additional app functionality such as in-app
event tracking.
Software Development
Kit (SDK)
Session Interval
A measure of the average of time
between user sessions (measure
between active periods).

A dynamic display advertising technology that
allows advertisers to combine real-time user
data streamed from their websites combined
with historical user data from CRM systems, to
drive personalized online advertising with
programmatic buying and messaging solutions.
Streaming CRM
SSL Certificate
A data file that is installed on a web server in
order to create a secure connection to send
data and personal information over the web.
Most often used for sensitive information like
log-in and credit card information.
Technology platform that enables online
publishers to manage their advertising
impression inventory and maximize 
revenue from digital media.
Supply-Side
Platform (SSP)

Reaching specific consumer segments
with advertising based on various traits
such as demographics, psychographics,
interests, behavioral variables (such 
as product purchase history or website
activity), etc., or the use of other
indicators that serve as a proxy of 
these desired traits.
Targeting Unique User
Also known as Unique Visitor, this
essentially refers to the cookie or other
identifier used to identify a particular
browser, and serves as the key measure
of website traffic for websites. A single
person may use more computers/
browsers or delete their cookies and thus
be identified as multiple “Unique Users.”

Action or practice of selling more expensive 
or higher-margin items, upgrades or other 
add-ons to an existing customer to increase
revenues or profits.
Upselling

Video ads that appear in portrait mode.
When viewed from a mobile device,
vertical video ads take over the full
screen, versus a horizontal video ad 
that appears on only 25% of the screen.
Advertisers can reach a higher brand
awareness with vertical video ads on
mobile as there is no other content to
distract the consumer.
Vertical Video

A metric that refers to whether ad impressions
are actually “in view” of the user. According to
IAB standards, at least 50% of the ad has to be
displayed on the screen for at least one
second for it to be considered viewed.
Viewability
Video Completion
Rate (VCR)
Also known as Completion Rate or View-
Through Rate (VTR). A KPI that shows the
percentage of all video ads that play the
entire duration of a video. Total number of
video ads that play the entire duration
divided by total number of video ads.
The percentage of a video ad that is viewed
continuously at a normal speed and tracked in
quartile percentages (e.g., 25%, 50%, or 75%)
to measure the success of an ad.
View Length
(Quartiles)
View-Through
Rate (VTR)
Also known as Completion Rate or Video
Completion Rate (VCR).

A measure of the average number 
of users who are active on a website 
or mobile app during the period of 
one week.
Weekly Active
Users (WAU)

Information system of interlinked hypertext
documents that are accessed via the Internet.
It has also commonly become known simply 
as the Web.
World Wide Web
(WWW)

A data delivery language that is 
often used to deliver product feeds 
for online shops.
XML Yield
The income return on an investment.
Real-time bidding was introduced as a
way for both publishers and advertisers 
to better manage yield associated with
online advertising.

In real-time bidding, zero win rate refers
to the situation that no winning bids are
coming through from a particular buying
partner, which usually indicates an error.
Zero Win Rate

Sociomantic Labs, a dunnhumby company, provides personalized display advertising solutions to reach people online, on
mobile web and in-app. The company’s proprietary Stream Platform enables the world’s leading advertisers to harness the
value of CRM and other first-party data assets to deliver individually personalized, dynamic ads for every stage of the customer
lifecycle. This results in broader reach, more new customers and increased loyalty of existing customers.
Sociomantic was founded in Berlin in 2009, and today serves advertisers in more than 70 countries across six continents.
www.sociomantic.com

The A to Z of Programmatic: 4th Edition

More Related Content

What's hot (19)

Similar to The A to Z of Programmatic: 4th Edition (20)

More from Sociomantic Labs (19)

Recently uploaded (20)

The A to Z of Programmatic: 4th Edition