Glossary
Definitions of key terms and concepts used throughout the Cogniad platform and ad tech industry.
A
Ad
See Banner.
Advertiser
An entity that creates and runs advertising campaigns to promote products, services, or brands. Advertisers use Cogniad to manage campaigns, create banners, set targeting rules, and track performance.
Ad Network
A platform that connects advertisers with publishers, facilitating the buying and selling of ad inventory. Cogniad can integrate with external ad networks for additional fill and revenue optimization.
Agency
An organization that manages advertising campaigns on behalf of multiple advertisers. Agencies can have relationships with both advertisers and publishers.
Audience
A group of users defined by shared characteristics such as demographics, interests, behavior, or geographic location. Used for targeting campaigns.
B
Banner
An individual ad creative that is displayed to users. Banners can be images, HTML, text, or video. Each banner belongs to a campaign and can have targeting rules and delivery limitations.
Bid
The amount an advertiser is willing to pay for an ad impression. In programmatic advertising, bids are submitted in real-time auctions.
Budget
The total amount of money allocated for an advertising campaign. Budgets can be set at the campaign level with daily or lifetime limits.
C
Campaign
A container for advertising banners with specific targeting, budget, scheduling, and performance goals. Campaigns can be of different types: Contract, Remnant, eCPM, or Override.
Channel
A grouping of zones or inventory with similar characteristics. Channels help organize inventory and can be used for targeting and reporting.
Click
A user interaction where they click on an ad banner. Click tracking is essential for measuring campaign performance and calculating CTR (Click-Through Rate).
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
A performance metric calculated as (Clicks / Impressions) × 100. CTR measures the percentage of users who clicked on an ad after seeing it.
Conversion
A desired action taken by a user after interacting with an ad, such as making a purchase, signing up, or downloading an app. Conversions are tracked using conversion trackers.
Conversion Rate
A performance metric calculated as (Conversions / Clicks) × 100. Measures the percentage of users who completed a conversion after clicking an ad.
CPC (Cost Per Click)
A pricing model where advertisers pay each time a user clicks on their ad. CPC = Total Cost / Total Clicks.
CPM (Cost Per Mille)
A pricing model where advertisers pay per 1,000 impressions. CPM = (Total Cost / Total Impressions) × 1,000.
D
Decision Engine
The core system that selects which ad to serve for each ad request. The decision engine considers priority, targeting rules, frequency capping, and optimization algorithms.
Delivery Limitation
Rules that restrict when and where an ad can be served. Examples include geographic targeting, time-based restrictions, device type, and browser targeting.
E
eCPM (Effective Cost Per Mille)
A revenue metric calculated as (Total Revenue / Total Impressions) × 1,000. eCPM represents the effective revenue per 1,000 impressions, regardless of the pricing model.
eCPM Campaign
A campaign type that uses performance-based bidding. eCPM campaigns automatically optimize bids based on performance metrics to maximize ROI.
F
Fill Rate
The percentage of ad requests that result in a served ad. Fill Rate = (Ads Served / Ad Requests) × 100. Higher fill rates indicate better inventory utilization.
Frequency Capping
A feature that limits how many times a specific ad or campaign can be shown to the same user within a given time period. Helps prevent ad fatigue and improves user experience.
I
Impression
A single instance of an ad being displayed to a user. Impressions are counted each time an ad is served, regardless of whether the user interacts with it.
Inventory
The available ad placement opportunities on a publisher's website or application. Inventory is organized into zones and can be sold to advertisers.
Invocation Code
HTML/JavaScript code provided by Cogniad that publishers embed on their websites to request and display ads. Each zone has its own invocation code.
P
Priority
A numeric value that determines the order in which campaigns are considered for ad serving. Higher priority campaigns are evaluated first. Priority ranges from -2 (eCPM) to 10 (highest contract).
Publisher
An entity that owns websites or applications and monetizes them by displaying ads. Publishers create zones, manage inventory, and earn revenue from ad impressions.
Programmatic Advertising
The automated buying and selling of ad inventory using real-time bidding (RTB) and algorithms. Programmatic advertising enables efficient, data-driven ad transactions.
R
Remnant Campaign
A campaign type with priority 0 that serves ads when no higher-priority campaigns are available. Used to monetize unsold inventory.
RTB (Real-Time Bidding)
An automated auction system where ad inventory is bought and sold in real-time, typically within milliseconds of an ad request.
T
Targeting
Rules that determine which users should see specific ads. Targeting can be based on geography, demographics, behavior, device type, time of day, and custom criteria.
Tracker
A conversion tracking mechanism that records when users complete desired actions (conversions) after interacting with ads. Trackers can track multiple conversion types.
Z
Zone
A specific location on a publisher's website or application where ads can be displayed. Zones have defined dimensions (width and height) and can be linked to campaigns. Each zone has a unique invocation code.