Glossary

Look up any term used on Adspotfinder. Each entry explains it and links to where it appears.

How you buy How ads get sold What it costs What you buy Who sells

How you buy

Self-service

You buy it yourself in the publisher's console, no calls needed. Open an account, set your budget or dates, and pay by card.

Publishers you can buy from yourself

Self-serve DSP account

You open an account on the publisher's own demand-side platform, like Amazon DSP, and run your campaigns yourself. Its minimum spend is separate from the console's or a managed buy's.

Amazon Ads, the example

Through your DSP (open auction)

You bid on ad spots from inside a DSP account you already have, in the open auction. The auction decides which sites your ad appears on.

DSPs & ad exchanges

Private deal / deal ID (PMP)

The publisher gives you a deal ID for agreed ad spots, and you switch it on in your DSP. The publisher needs its own selling account to offer one.

DSPs & ad exchanges

Private auction

A deal ID where you still bid, but only invited buyers take part and the publisher sets a floor price. It's the bidding kind of private deal.

DSPs & ad exchanges

Programmatic guaranteed (PG)

A deal ID at a fixed rate for reserved impressions. You commit up front like a direct buy, but run it through your DSP. It's the guaranteed kind of private deal.

DSPs & ad exchanges

Through a reseller

The publisher doesn't sell for itself. A reseller or sales house sells its ad spots, and you buy from them.

How to buy, on every publisher page

Through a marketplace

A third-party marketplace for newsletters, podcasts or billboards lists the ad spot. You buy it there instead of from the publisher.

How to buy, on every publisher page

Managed service

The publisher's own sales team runs the buy for you, with a rep and a signed insertion order. It usually has the highest minimum.

Publishers sold by their own team

Through an agency

You hire a media agency and it buys for you, often through its own accounts. Some publishers only sell to agencies.

Media agencies

Request a quote (RFP)

You email the publisher or fill in its form, and it sends you a rate. A request for proposal is the formal version.

Publishers that quote on request

Insertion order (IO)

The signed order that closes a managed or agency buy. It puts the placements, dates, rates and terms in one document.

Publishers sold by their own team

Media kit

The publisher's own document with its audience numbers, placements, specs and rates. A sales team usually sends it first.

Publishers sold by their own team

Ad spot

What a publisher sells and you pay for: one price for one or more placements. Silver, Gold and Platinum packages are ad spots, and so is a podcast sponsorship with one placement.

Ad spots

Placement

One position where an ad runs, like a leaderboard, a newsletter position or a pre-roll. Publishers sell placements inside ad spots, and the price belongs to the ad spot.

Ad spots

Placement choice

Whether you choose the site and placement, agree it in a deal, or the platform decides where your ad runs. It's a fact about the ad spot.

How to buy, on every publisher page

How ads get sold

Demand-side platform (DSP)

Software you use to buy ads programmatically. One login gives you access to many exchanges, and it's the only part of programmatic a buyer signs in to.

DSPs & ad exchanges

Supply-side platform (SSP)

The publisher's side of programmatic. It puts ad spots up for auction and takes bids from DSPs. You never log in to one, but you can switch it on inside your DSP.

DSPs & ad exchanges

Ad exchange

The marketplace where publishers' ad spots are auctioned to DSPs in real time. Most SSPs run their own, so people often use the two words for the same thing.

DSPs & ad exchanges

Ad network

A company that bundles ad spots from many publishers and sells them as its own. You buy from the network, not from the sites in it.

Ad networks in the directory

Sales house (intermediary)

A company that sells a publisher's ad spots programmatically under its own accounts, like Freestar, Mediavine or Playwire. It's who you agree a deal with.

Exchanges card, on every publisher page

ads.txt

A public file where a publisher lists which exchanges and accounts may sell its ad spots.

Exchanges card, on every publisher page

sellers.json

A file each exchange publishes that says who is behind each account ID, and whether it's the publisher or an intermediary.

Exchanges card, on every publisher page

DIRECT vs RESELLER

Each line in ads.txt is either the publisher's own account with the exchange (DIRECT) or a third party that may sell the same ad spots too (RESELLER).

Exchanges card, on every publisher page

Supply-path optimisation (SPO)

Buying through the shortest route to an ad spot, such as the publisher's own account instead of a reseller, so fewer middlemen take a cut.

DSPs & ad exchanges

Header bidding

A publisher offers each impression to several SSPs at once, and its ad server picks the winner. That's why one site can sell on many exchanges.

Exchanges card, on every publisher page

OpenRTB

The IAB standard that SSPs and DSPs use to talk to each other, for bid requests and bid responses.

DSPs & ad exchanges

Curated deal

A third party puts together a package of ad spots and sells it as one deal ID. You buy it in your DSP, the same place you'd bid in the open auction.

DSPs & ad exchanges

First-price auction

The winner pays the price it bid. Nearly every exchange works this way now. It replaced second-price auctions, where the winner paid the runner-up's bid.

DSPs & ad exchanges

Walled garden

A platform that sells its ad spots only through its own console, like Google, Meta or Amazon. You can buy yourself, but only inside that platform.

Ad platforms in the directory

What it costs

CPM

Cost per thousand impressions. Most display, video and audio ad spots are priced this way.

Ad spots

CPC

Cost per click. You pay only when someone clicks. Search ads and many self-serve display ads are priced this way.

Ad spots

CPA

Cost per action or acquisition, such as a sale or a sign-up. You pay when it happens.

Ad spots

CPV

Cost per view. You pay each time someone views your video ad, as the platform counts a view.

Ad spots

CPI

Cost per install, used for app ads. You pay for each install your ad brings in.

Ad spots

CPL

Cost per lead. You pay each time someone fills in a form or sends an enquiry. B2B advertisers often use it.

Ad spots

CPE

Cost per engagement. You pay when someone interacts with your ad in a way the publisher defines, like a swipe, an expand or a share.

Ad spots

Flat rate

One fixed price, however many people see the ad. Newsletter sponsorships and sponsored posts often work this way.

Ad spots

Per day / week / month

You rent the placement for a set time, and the ad spot says whether that's a day, a week or a month.

Ad spots

Per send

The newsletter rate: one price for each issue your ad goes out in.

Ad spots

Per subscriber

A newsletter or community price based on how many subscribers are on the list.

Ad spots

Per listen

The podcast and audio rate, usually a CPM based on downloads or listens.

Ad spots

Revenue share

The publisher keeps a percentage of the sales the ad brings you. It's common on affiliate and marketplace listings.

Ad spots

Sponsorship

Your brand is named as the sponsor of a show, newsletter, event or section. It's priced as one package, not per impression.

Ad spots

Negotiated

The publisher doesn't list a price. You agree the rate with its team, so we show no number.

Ad spots

Bid floor

The lowest bid a publisher accepts, like Reddit's $3.50 CPM. It sets the minimum on programmatic options.

How to buy, on every publisher page

Minimum spend

The least a publisher will accept for a campaign or an account. It can differ for each way to buy, so a console with no minimum can sit next to a $50,000 managed option.

Budget filter

Daily budget minimum

The smallest daily budget you can set to run ads, like Quora's $5. Self-serve platforms use it.

How to buy, on every publisher page

Deposit

Money you add to your account before your ads run. It's a prepaid balance that you spend down.

How to buy, on every publisher page

Minimum booking

The shortest period a placement can be bought for, like 30 days or a quarter.

How to buy, on every publisher page

Order quantity minimum

The smallest amount a publisher will sell you, like 10,000 impressions or ten words of a classified.

How to buy, on every publisher page

Lead time

The number of days between agreeing a buy and your ad going live. You'll find it in the last step of a publisher's How to buy.

How to buy, on every publisher page

Advertiser approval

Some publishers check you and your ad before anything runs. That extra step adds to the lead time.

How to buy, on every publisher page

Creative specs

The sizes, lengths and file formats a publisher accepts. Video, CTV and billboard creatives take the longest to prepare.

How to buy, on every publisher page

What you buy

Takeover / roadblock

You buy every ad position on a page, a section or the whole site for a set time, as one package.

Placement

Site skin / wallpaper

An ad that fills the background around the page content. It's usually part of a takeover.

Placement

Host-read

A podcast or radio ad the host reads in their own words, instead of a pre-recorded ad.

Placement

Dedicated send

A newsletter issue that is entirely your ad, sent to the whole list. It's usually the most expensive newsletter placement.

Placement

Who sells

Publisher

A website, newsletter, podcast, app, TV channel or billboard owner that sells ad spots to reach its own audience. Most of the directory is publishers.

Publishers in the directory

Ad platform

A company that runs its own ad system, like Google Ads, Meta or Amazon Ads. You buy through its console.

Ad platforms in the directory

Network

A company that sells ad spots from other publishers as its own. It doesn't sell its own audience.

Ad networks in the directory

Tranco rank

An independent ranking of the most-visited websites. We use it to order listings, and nobody can pay to move up.

Publishers directory

Domain authority (DA)

A score from 0 to 100 that estimates how well a site ranks in search, based on its backlinks. The filter lets you set a minimum.

Domain-authority filter

Regional edition

A local version of a brand's site, like BBC Mundo for BBC. It's listed under the main site, and you can browse it by country.

Countries

DMA

Designated Market Area, a US television market. Local ads are often sold by DMA. It's not the Direct Marketing Association.

Countries