Glossary

Ad Exchange

An ad exchange is a real-time online marketplace where advertisers and publishers can buy and sell advertising space and impressions programmatically.

Ad Impression

An ad impression is the number of times an ad is shown on the screen. An ad impression is counted when one or more pixels of the ad creative are visible on a device's screen.

Ad Request

Also referred to as ad opportunities, this is the number of times an app requests for an ad to be displayed.

Ad Stack

An ad stack is the list of ad networks integrated the publisher's primary mediation platform or ad server.

Ad Unit

Ad ad unit is the ad format that is served into a Placement. InMobi supports only one ad unit under each placement.

Adapter

An adapter is a piece of code that makes the link between the mediation SDK and other monetization partners' SDKs, which in this case is InMobi. The adapter wraps the monetization partners' SDKs and allows publishers to do multiple integrations by only using the mediation's SDK. You can find our supported mediation platforms here, each partner links to their websites where you can find the InMobi adapter.

Advertising ID

An advertising ID is a unique user ID assigned to a mobile device that allows advertisers to personalize their targeting. Apple's advertising ID is the "Identifier for Advertisers" (IDFA) and starting with its iOS 14.5 software update, Apple allow iOS users to choose whether they allow apps to track their IDFA. Google's advertising ID is "Google Advertising ID" (AAID).

API

An application programming interface, or API, is an interface that a computer application or system can use to access a set of third party functions or programs. InMobi offers a reporting API.

App-ads.txt

Developed by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) in 2017 to prevent fraud, app-ads.txt is a text file that app publishers host on their server listing who are the authorized sellers of their inventory. Desktop and web environments have the ads.txt, which we also support across mobile web inventory.

Audience Bidding

Audience Bidding is InMobi’s in-app header bidding solution that allows us to bid on your inventory simultaneously along with other bidders in the publisher's ad stack in real-time. This enables publishers to access premium demand from InMobi by adding InMobi as a demand source on the bidding platform of their choice to earn the highest value from each impression.

ATC

It stands for Automated Traffic Control. InMobi's proprietary ML-based algorithm channels the most desired supply to its partners.

Banner Ad

A static or animated image and text are usually placed in high-visibility areas on apps at the top or bottom of the screen.

Bid Request

This is the call sent from the ad exchange to the DSP, providing various information about the platform, time of impression, and key user data.

Bid Response

A DSP’s response to a bid request sent back to the ad exchange, which includes the bidder’s price and creative ID.

Bundle ID

A bundle ID is a unique identifier allocated to an application. InMobi directly extracts this information from the app store URL when entered in the Publisher UI, at the inventory setup stage. This is an important data parameter that is used by DSPs to validate the authenticity of an app.

BURL

It stands for Billing URL. A flag is fired when the ad renders on the user's active screen. InMobi bills for an impression whenever BURL is fired.

CCPA

The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) came into effect in January 2020 and is a framework that lays down how organizations doing business in California need to capture, store and distribute personal information of California residents.

COPPA

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) is a law created to protect the privacy of children under the age of 13. The Act was passed by the U.S. Congress in 1998 and took effect in April 2000. COPPA is managed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

CPA

CPA or cost per action is a pricing model mainly used on mobile user acquisition campaigns in which advertisers choose a post-install action to measure, and only pay for users who engage in that action.

CPC

Cost per click (CPC) is a pricing model used in mobile user acquisition campaigns in which advertisers pay each time a user clicks on their ad.

CPM

Cost Per Mille (CPM) is a pricing model referring to the cost of 1,000 ad impressions that DSPs set to pay each time their ad appears. Publishers earn revenue each time an ad is served on their app and viewed by a user.

CTR

Click through rate (CTR) is the percentage of users who saw an ad and clicked on it. It is the number of clicks your ad gets divided by the number of times your ad is shown.

CTV

A Connected TV (CTV) app is an app that can stream digital video, whether through a built-in Smart TV device, dedicated streaming device, or game console.

Demand Source

An ad source willing to pay to access a given in-app inventory.

DSP

A Demand-side platform (DSP) is the technology that advertisers and agencies use to buy ad inventory programmatically. DSPs use data and various algorythms to determine which inventory to bid for on behalf of the end advertiser.

eCPM

Effective cost per thousand impressions (eCPM) is an estimate of the revenue you receive for every thousand ad impressions, regardless of the buying method being used (CPA, CPC, etc). eCPM is calculated as (Total Earnings / Impressions) x 1000.

Fill Rate

Fill rate represents how often ad requests result in fills (ie successful loads) and is the total number of creatives that successfully loaded on the device.

GDPR

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) went into effect on May 25, 2018 across the European Union. These new regulations create a framework to protect personal data about individuals in the EU and must be adhered to by all businesses who collect or process such data. Failure to comply with GDPR can result in strict penalties for non-compliant companies.

IAB

Interactive Advertising Bureau. An advertising business organization that develops industry standards conducts research and provides legal support for the online advertising industry.

Interstitial Ad

An interstitial ad is a fullscreen static, video, or rich media ad that is typically displayed at natural transition points in the flow of an app, such as between activities or during the pause between levels in a game. The ad is self-contained within its own window, not within the app’s layout and includes a close button that removes the ad from the user's experience.

In-Stream Video Ad

An In-Stream video as is a video ad delivered within a video player before the content (pre-roll), in the middle of the content (mid-roll), or after the content (post-roll).

IVT

It stands for Invalid Traffic (non-human user-generated or malicious ad requests).

LURL

It stands for Loss URL. A flag is fired when the bid loses the auction. Loss Reason accompanies it.

Mediation

Ad mediation is an app monetization solution that allows app developers to manage and optimize multiple demand sources in one platform, with just one SDK integration.

Monetization

Monetization refers to publishers generating revenue from advertising by allowing their users to be exposed to ads in their app experience.

Native Ad

A static or video ad that blends naturally with the app’s content. The ad experience follows the natural form and function of the app’s user experience.

oRTB

The framework in place to facilitate the auction is called OpenRTB or ORTB, which are both short for Open Real-Time Bidding. oRTB, is a standard that was created by the IAB for the purpose of creating a universal language that all entities participating in an auction can speak in order to conduct business

Placement

A Placement (also referred to as an Ad Spot or an Ad Unit by other ad tech vendors) is a location within your app where the ads are displayed to the user. The Ad Unit is the format under the Placement. Each placement is allocated with a dedicated identifier in the Publisher UI.

Private Marketplace

Also referred to as Deal, a private marketplace (PMP) is a subset of real-time bidding (RTB) where the publisher allows a limited set of advertisers to buy their inventory, and are given a first look before other buyers.

Programmatic Guaranteed

"A Programmatic Guaranteed deal (PGD), also referred as Direct Deal, is the highest priority Private Marketplace where the publisher has negotiated terms with a specific advertiser who has exclusive access to the publishers inventory in a 1:1 setup. "

Rewarded Video Ad

An ad format in which a user is rewarded after successful completion of the video ad. The reward is typically in-game virtual currency (gold, coins, power-ups, extra lives, etc.).

SDK

A software development kit (SDK) contains the necessary tools to enable monetization of apps. Refer to our instructions for integrating the Android SDK and the iOS SDK.

Sellers.json

Introduced by the IAB, sellers.json provides a mechanism to enable buyers to discover who the entities are that are either direct sellers of or intermediaries in the selling of digital advertising. A published and accessible sellers.json file allows the identity of the final seller of a bid request to be discovered.

SSP

A supply-side platform (SSP) is a technology platform that enables publishers to sell their inventory to DSPs, by plugging in through ad exchanges.

UI

The User interface provided by InMobi for accessing InMobi publisher solutions. We also refer to it as Publisher Dashboard.

Unity

Unity is a cross-platform real-time engine developed by Unity Technologies. It is an OS X-exclusive game engine.

VAST

Video Ad Serving Template (VAST) is a specification released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) that sets a standard for communication requirements between ad servers and video players. It is a data structure declared using XML.

Waterfall

Waterfall is the system to order demand source calls to fill a publisher's inventory. Through the waterfall process, an ad request asks each demand source for an ad to serve, and continues down the waterfall until an impression is served.