Ultimate Programmatic Advertising Glossary

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Total Terms

Programmatic Ecosystem Map

Advertiser

→

Agency/Trading Desk

→

DSP

→

Ad Exchange

←

SSP

←

Publisher

↳ DMP/CDP integrate with DSP/SSP • Verification partners monitor quality • Data providers enrich targeting

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Auction Dynamics & Deal Types

Auction Type Comparison

Type	Description	Example	Best For
First-Price	Winner pays their bid amount	Bid $5 → Pay $5	Transparency, simplicity
Second-Price	Winner pays $0.01 above 2nd bid	Bid $5, 2nd $3 → Pay $3.01	Efficiency, true value
Uniform Price	All winners pay same price	Common in header bidding	Multiple winners
Vickrey Auction	Sealed-bid second-price	Bidders submit sealed bids	Theoretical efficiency
Dutch Auction	Price decreases until bid	Descending clock auction	Fast clearance
English Auction	Price increases with bids	Auction house style	Price discovery

Programmatic Deal Types

Open Auction

Access: Public, real-time

Price: Dynamic bidding

Inventory: Remnant, all

Best For: Scale & reach

Private Marketplace (PMP)

Access: Invite-only

Price: Fixed/negotiated floor

Inventory: Premium

Best For: Brand safety, exclusivity

Programmatic Guaranteed

Access: Direct, reserved

Price: Fixed CPM

Inventory: Reserved, guaranteed

Best For: Guaranteed delivery

Preferred Deal

Access: First-look right

Price: Fixed (often premium)

Inventory: Premium, not reserved

Best For: Test & learn

Programmatic Direct

Access: Direct I/O

Price: Negotiated fixed

Inventory: Reserved premium

Best For: Brand campaigns

Automated Guaranteed

Access: Automated I/O

Price: Fixed

Inventory: Reserved

Best For: Efficiency

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Essential IAB Formulas & Calculations

CPM

CPM = (Total Cost / Impressions) × 1000

Example: ($5,000 / 1,000,000) × 1000 = $5.00 CPM

CPC

CPC = Total Cost / Total Clicks

Example: $5,000 / 12,500 clicks = $0.40 CPC

CTR

CTR = (Clicks / Impressions) × 100%

Example: (12,500 / 1,000,000) × 100 = 1.25% CTR

CPA

CPA = Total Cost / Total Conversions

Example: $5,000 / 250 conversions = $20.00 CPA

CVR

CVR = (Conversions / Clicks) × 100%

Example: (250 / 12,500) × 100 = 2% CVR

ROAS

ROAS = Revenue / Ad Spend

Example: $15,000 / $5,000 = 3.0x ROAS

eCPM

eCPM = (Total Earnings / Impressions) × 1000

Example: ($2,500 / 500,000) × 1000 = $5.00 eCPM

VCR

VCR = (Completions / Starts) × 100%

Example: (75,000 / 100,000) × 100 = 75% VCR

Viewability

Viewability = (Viewable Imps / Total Imps) × 100%

IAB Standard: 50% of pixels for 1 second (display)

Fill Rate

Fill Rate = (Served Imps / Requested Imps) × 100%

Publisher metric for inventory sold

Win Rate

Win Rate = (Won Auctions / Total Auctions) × 100%

DSP performance metric

Effective Frequency

Frequency = Impressions / Unique Reach

10M impressions / 2.5M reach = 4.0 frequency

Cost Per Point (CPP)

CPP = Campaign Cost / GRP

$50,000 / 100 GRP = $500 CPP

Incremental Lift

Lift = (Test Rate - Control Rate) / Control Rate

(2.5% - 1.8%) / 1.8% = 38.9% lift

Break-Even CPA

Break-Even CPA = AOV × Gross Margin

$100 × 40% = $40 break-even CPA

CPS (Cost Per Sale)

CPS = Total Cost / Total Sales

CPL (Cost Per Lead)

CPL = Total Cost / Total Leads

CPCV (Cost Per Completed View)

CPCV = Total Cost / Total Completions

CPEng (Cost Per Engagement)

CPEng = Total Cost / Total Engagements

vCPM (Viewable CPM)

vCPM = (Total Cost / Viewable Impressions) × 1000

CPMv (Cost Per Viewable Mille)

Same as vCPM

RPM (Revenue Per Mille)

RPM = (Total Revenue / Impressions) × 1000

ARPU (Average Revenue Per User)

ARPU = Total Revenue / Total Users

LTV (Customer Lifetime Value)

LTV = Average Purchase Value × Purchase Frequency × Customer Lifespan

CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)

CAC = Total Sales & Marketing Cost / New Customers Acquired

Payback Period

Payback Period = CAC / (Monthly Revenue per Customer × Gross Margin)

Bounce Rate

Bounce Rate = (Single Page Sessions / Total Sessions) × 100%

Exit Rate

Exit Rate = (Exits from Page / Total Pageviews) × 100%

Session Duration

Avg Session Duration = Total Session Duration / Total Sessions

Pages Per Session

Pages/Session = Total Pageviews / Total Sessions

Cost Per Visit

CPV = Total Cost / Total Visits

Bid Price (CPM)

Bid Price = (Target CPA × CTR × 1000) / 100

Bid Price (CPC)

Bid Price = Target CPA × CVR

Expected Win Rate

Win Rate = (Your Bid / Market Price) × Base Win Rate

Quartile Completion

Quartile % = (Completions at Quartile / Total Starts) × 100%

Skip Rate

Skip Rate = (Skips / Starts) × 100%

Mute Rate

Mute Rate = (Mutes / Impressions) × 100%

Sound-On Rate

Sound-On Rate = (Plays with Sound / Total Plays) × 100%

Engagement Rate

Engagement Rate = (Engagements / Impressions) × 100%

Play Rate

Play Rate = (Starts / Loads) × 100%

Quartile Dropoff

Dropoff = (Starts - Completions at Quartile) / Starts × 100%

Cost Per Viewable Impression

CPVI = CPM / (Viewability % / 100)

True Cost After IVT

True CPM = CPM / ((100 - IVT %) / 100)

Effective CPM (eCPM) for Publisher

eCPM = (Total Earnings / Impressions) × 1000

Revenue Per User (RPU)

RPU = Total Revenue / Total Users

Cost Per Thousand Viewable

CPMV = (Total Cost / Viewable Impressions) × 1000

Attribution Weight

Weight = (Touchpoint Value / Total Conversion Value) × 100%

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IAB Standard Ad Sizes (50+ formats)

Leaderboard

728 × 90

Medium Rectangle

300 × 250

Skyscraper

160 × 600

Half Page

300 × 600

Large Leaderboard

970 × 90

Billboard

970 × 250

Mobile Banner

320 × 50

Mobile Interstitial

320 × 480

Mobile Interstitial L

480 × 320

Skyscraper

120 × 600

Banner

468 × 60

Square

250 × 250

Small Square

200 × 200

Rectangle

180 × 150

Vertical Rectangle

240 × 400

Large Rectangle

336 × 280

Netboard

580 × 400

Pushdown

750 × 100

Portrait

300 × 1050

Pushdown Large

970 × 210

Mobile Banner Small

300 × 50

Mobile Banner Large

320 × 100

Tablet Leaderboard

728 × 90

Tablet Interstitial

768 × 1024

Tablet Interstitial L

1024 × 768

Button 1

120 × 60

Button 2

120 × 90

Square Button

125 × 125

Micro Bar

230 × 33

Micro Bar

468 × 15

Micro Bar Large

728 × 15

Micro Button

88 × 31

Vertical Banner

120 × 240

Tall Skyscraper

180 × 500

Filmstrip

500 × 350

Filmstrip Large

550 × 480

Social Card

1200 × 628

Instagram Square

800 × 800

Instagram Square HD

1080 × 1080

Instagram Portrait

1080 × 1350

Instagram Landscape

1080 × 566

YouTube/Video

1920 × 1080

YouTube/Video HD

1280 × 720

Video SD

854 × 480

Video nHD

640 × 360

Video Low

426 × 240

Video Minimal

256 × 144

Mobile Banner

300 × 50

Mobile Banner Standard

320 × 50

Mobile Banner Large

320 × 100

Mobile Rectangle

320 × 250

Mobile Half Page

320 × 400

Mobile Interstitial

320 × 480

Mobile Interstitial L

480 × 320

Tablet Portrait

768 × 1024

Tablet Landscape

1024 × 768

Tablet Widescreen

1280 × 800

Desktop Widescreen

1440 × 900

Desktop HD+

1600 × 900

Desktop Full HD

1920 × 1080

Desktop 2K

2560 × 1440

Desktop 4K

3840 × 2160

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Quick Reference: Common Acronyms (150+)

DSP - Demand-Side Platform

SSP - Supply-Side Platform

DMP - Data Management Platform

CDP - Customer Data Platform

RTB - Real-Time Bidding

PMP - Private Marketplace

CPM - Cost Per Mille

CPC - Cost Per Click

CPA - Cost Per Action

CTR - Click-Through Rate

CVR - Conversion Rate

ROAS - Return on Ad Spend

ROI - Return on Investment

VCR - Video Completion Rate

VAST - Video Ad Serving Template

VPAID - Video Player-Ad Interface Definition

VMAP - Video Multiple Ad Playlist

MRAID - Mobile Rich Media Ad Interface Definitions

OMID - Open Measurement Interface Definition

SIMID - Secure Interactive Media Interface Definition

GDPR - General Data Protection Regulation

CCPA - California Consumer Privacy Act

CPRA - California Privacy Rights Act

LGPD - Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados (Brazil)

PIPEDA - Canada's privacy law

TCF - Transparency & Consent Framework

GPP - Global Privacy Platform

CMP - Consent Management Platform

IDFA - Identifier for Advertisers (Apple)

GAID - Google Advertising ID

AAID - Amazon Advertising ID

OAID - Open Anonymous Device ID (China)

SKAN - SKAdNetwork (Apple)

ATT - App Tracking Transparency

MMP - Mobile Measurement Partner

OTT - Over-The-Top

CTV - Connected TV

AVOD - Advertising Video on Demand

SVOD - Subscription Video on Demand

TVOD - Transactional Video on Demand

FAST - Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV

vMVPD - Virtual Multichannel Video Programming Distributor

HLS - HTTP Live Streaming

DASH - Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP

SCTE - Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers

MTA - Multi-Touch Attribution

MMM - Media Mix Modeling

GRP - Gross Rating Point

TRP - Target Rating Point

NGRP - Digital GRP

SPO - Supply Path Optimization

DCO - Dynamic Creative Optimization

LAL - Lookalike Modeling

CPL - Cost Per Lead

CPS - Cost Per Sale

CPCV - Cost Per Completed View

CPEng - Cost Per Engagement

vCPM - Viewable CPM

CPMv - Cost Per Viewable Mille

RPM - Revenue Per Mille

ARPU - Average Revenue Per User

LTV - Customer Lifetime Value

CAC - Customer Acquisition Cost

GIVT - General Invalid Traffic

SIVT - Sophisticated Invalid Traffic

IVT - Invalid Traffic

ads.txt - Authorized Digital Sellers

app-ads.txt - App Authorized Digital Sellers

sellers.json - Seller Declaration

SupplyChain - Supply Chain Object

IAB - Interactive Advertising Bureau

MRC - Media Rating Council

TAG - Trustworthy Accountability Group

JICWEBS - Joint Industry Committee for Web Standards

W3C - World Wide Web Consortium

HTTP - Hypertext Transfer Protocol

HTTPS - HTTP Secure

API - Application Programming Interface

SDK - Software Development Kit

JS - JavaScript

HTML - HyperText Markup Language

CSS - Cascading Style Sheets

XML - eXtensible Markup Language

JSON - JavaScript Object Notation

URL - Uniform Resource Locator

URI - Uniform Resource Identifier

URN - Uniform Resource Name

DNS - Domain Name System

IP - Internet Protocol

TCP - Transmission Control Protocol

UDP - User Datagram Protocol

SSL - Secure Sockets Layer

TLS - Transport Layer Security

CDN - Content Delivery Network

PII - Personally Identifiable Information

DPA - Data Processing Agreement

SCC - Standard Contractual Clauses

DPF - Data Privacy Framework

UID2 - Unified ID 2.0

RampID - LiveRamp Identity

PAAPI - Protected Audience API

FLoC - Federated Learning of Cohorts

FLEDGE - First Locally-Executed Decision over Groups Experiment

CHIPS - Cookies Having Independent Partitioned State

RA - Reach and Frequency

DAU - Daily Active Users

MAU - Monthly Active Users

WAU - Weekly Active Users

YOY - Year Over Year

QOQ - Quarter Over Quarter

MOM - Month Over Month

DOD - Day Over Day

KPI - Key Performance Indicator

OKR - Objectives and Key Results

UAC - Universal App Campaigns

ACoA - Advertising Cost of Acquisition

MER - Marketing Efficiency Ratio

POE - Paid, Owned, Earned Media

CPM - Cost Per Thousand

CPT - Cost Per Thousand (alternate)

CPI - Cost Per Install

CPD - Cost Per Download

CPR - Cost Per Registration

CPCV - Cost Per Completed View

CPMV - Cost Per Thousand Viewable

OCPM - Optimized CPM

ECPM - Effective CPM

RCPM - Revenue CPM

DCO - Dynamic Creative Optimization

CAT - Creative Approval Template

HTML5 - HyperText Markup Language 5

AMP - Accelerated Mobile Pages

PWA - Progressive Web App

SPA - Single Page Application

SSR - Server-Side Rendering

CSR - Client-Side Rendering

SSP - Server-Side Pre-rendering

ISR - Incremental Static Regeneration

DSA - Dynamic Search Ads

RLSA - Remarketing Lists for Search Ads

DDA - Data-Driven Attribution

WCA - Website Call Conversions

GCLID - Google Click ID

MSID - Microsoft Click ID

FBID - Facebook Click ID

TTD - The Trade Desk

DV360 - Display & Video 360

CM360 - Campaign Manager 360

SA360 - Search Ads 360

GA360 - Google Analytics 360

GAM - Google Ad Manager

DFP - DoubleClick for Publishers (legacy)

DCM - DoubleClick Campaign Manager (legacy)

DBM - DoubleClick Bid Manager (legacy)

GCP - Google Cloud Platform

AWS - Amazon Web Services

AZURE - Microsoft Azure

ML - Machine Learning

AI - Artificial Intelligence

NLP - Natural Language Processing

CV - Computer Vision

LLM - Large Language Model

GPT - Generative Pre-trained Transformer

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