Glossary

Term

Abbreviation

Definition

A/B Testing

ABT

Comparing two ad variants to determine which performs better based on metrics like CTR, conversions, or ROI.

Ad Exchange

ADX

A digital marketplace that enables advertisers and publishers to buy and sell advertising space through real-time auctions.

Ad Fraud

Deceptive practices like fake clicks, impressions, or conversions exploiting advertising systems to steal revenue or manipulate performance metrics.

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 Server

A technology platform that stores, manages, and delivers advertisements to websites, mobile apps, or other digital platforms.

Ad Stack

Collection of technologies, platforms, and tools used to manage, deliver, and optimize digital advertising campaigns.

Ad Unit

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

Ad Verification

The process of ensuring that ads are displayed in their intended location, format, and context, as specified by the advertiser.

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).

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.

Application Programming Interface

API

A set of protocols, routines, and tools that allow different software components and systems to communicate with each other. It enables the seamless exchange of data and functionality between platforms, such as ad servers, demand-side platforms (DSPs), and supply-side platforms (SSPs), facilitating integration, automation, and optimization of advertising processes.

ATC

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

Auction Timeout

The maximum amount of time allocated for collecting bids during an auction process.

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.

Audience Segmentation

Dividing users into distinct groups based on attributes like demographics, behavior, or interests to deliver targeted advertising.

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 Landscape

Data insights showing bid prices, competition, and trends within an ad auction to optimize bidding strategies.

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.

Bid Shading

A technique used to optimize bid prices in programmatic advertising auctions, particularly in environments transitioning from second-price to first-price auction models.

Brand Safety

The practices, technologies, and tools implemented to ensure that advertisements do not appear alongside inappropriate, harmful, or irrelevant content that could damage the advertiser's reputation.

Budget Smoothing

A technique used to distribute a campaign's allocated budget evenly across its entire duration.

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.

Click Through Rate

CTR

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.

Client-Side Header Bidding

CSHB

A header bidding implementation where the auction is conducted directly within the user's browser, enabling real-time competition among demand sources before an ad request is sent to the ad server.

Computer Vision

CV

AI technology used to analyze and categorize images and videos in the adtech industry.

Connected TV

CTV

An app that can stream digital video, whether through a built-in Smart TV device, dedicated streaming device, or game console.

Content Delivery Network

CDN

A distributed network of servers strategically located across various geographical locations to ensure faster and more reliable delivery of advertising content to end users.

Contextual Targeting

The practice of delivering advertisements based on the content of a webpage rather than relying on user-specific data.

Conversion Attribution

The process of determining which advertisements or marketing touchpoints led to a desired conversion, such as a purchase, sign-up, or other key action.

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).

Cost Per Action

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.

Cost Per Click

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.

Cost Per Completed View

CPCV

A performance metric used to measure the cost incurred by an advertiser for every video ad that is viewed to completion by a user.

Cost Per Mille

CPM

A pricing model refers to the cost per 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.

Cost Per Visit

CPV

The cost associated with driving a physical store visit can be directly attributed to an advertising campaign.

Creative Quality Assurance

CQA

The process of verifying that an ad creative meets the defined specifications, standards, and requirements before it is launched or delivered.

Cross-device Tracking

A technology used to identify and track users across multiple devices, such as smartphones, tablets, and desktop computers.

Customer Data Platform

CDP

A centralized software system in the Adtech industry designed to collect, unify, and manage customer data from various sources.

Data Clean Room

DCR

A secure, privacy-compliant environment where multiple parties analyze and match anonymized data without sharing raw datasets.

Data Management Platform

DMP

Centralized system for collecting, organizing, and activating audience data to optimize ad targeting and campaigns.

Deal ID

A unique identifier used in programmatic advertising to facilitate direct deals between publishers and advertisers.

Demand Path Optimization

DPO

The process publishers use to streamline and optimize their connections with demand sources, such as advertisers, agencies, or demand-side platforms (DSPs).

Demand Side Platform

DSP

A platform that allows buyers of digital advertising inventory to manage multiple ad exchange and data exchange accounts through one interface.

Demand Source

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

Digital Video Ad Format

DVAF

Different types of video ads, such as in-stream, out-stream, or interactive, used to deliver ads across digital platforms and devices.

Domain Spoofing

Practice of fraudulently pretending to be a high-quality website to trick advertisers into paying for ad placements on low-quality or fake domains.

Dynamic Allocation

A technology that automatically selects the highest-paying demand source for an ad impression in real-time.

Dynamic Floor Price

A minimum bid price for ad inventory that adjusts automatically based on various factors, such as user demand, inventory quality, historical performance, and market conditions.

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.

Effective Cost Per Mille

eCPM

The actual cost incurred by an advertiser for every thousand impressions served.

Event Tracking

The process of monitoring and recording specific user interactions with advertisements.

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.

First-Price Auction

FPA

An auction type where the winning bidder pays exactly the amount they bid.

Floor Price

The minimum price a publisher is willing to accept for their ad inventory during programmatic auctions.

Frequency Capping

The practice of limiting the number of times a specific user is exposed to a particular ad within a set timeframe.

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.

Ghost Bids

Artificial or simulated bids created within ad auctions to test and evaluate pricing strategies without the intention of winning the auction.

Header Bidding

HB

An advanced programmatic advertising technique that enables publishers to offer their ad inventory to multiple demand sources (ad exchanges, SSPs, and DSPs) simultaneously, before making a call to their ad server.

HTML5 Video Ad Serving Template

HTML5 VAST

A video ad standard that leverages HTML5 technology instead of Flash to deliver interactive and rich-media video advertisements.

Identity Resolution

The process of connecting and unifying user identifiers across multiple platforms, devices, and touchpoints.

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).

Incrementally Testing

A method used to measure the true impact of ad campaigns by isolating and quantifying the additional value generated by ads.

Interactive Advertising Bureau

IAB

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.

Invalid Traffic

Non-human or inadvertent ad traffic that does not represent genuine user engagement with ads.

Inventory Quality

IQ

The measure of how valuable, relevant, and brand-safe ad inventory is for advertisers.

IVT

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

Last-Click Attribution

LCA

A conversion tracking model that attributes the credit for a conversion (such as a purchase, signup, or lead) to the last ad clicked by a user before completing the desired action.

Log-Level Data

LLD

Detailed, granular information collected for each impression, click, and conversion event.

Look-alike Modeling

A data-driven technique used to identify and target users who share similar characteristics, behaviors, or attributes with an existing customer base.

LURL

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

Machine Learning Model

ML

An AI system that leverages data-driven algorithms to improve bidding strategies and optimize ad campaign performance.

Media Mix Modeling

MMM

A statistical analysis technique used to evaluate and optimize the effectiveness of various marketing channels and campaigns.

Media Rating Council

MRC

An industry organization that audits and accredits measurement vendors to ensure the validity, reliability, and transparency of their methodologies.

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.

Monetization Rate

The amount of revenue generated per thousand ad requests.

Multi-Size Request

An ad request designed to accept multiple creative sizes, allowing the ad server to return the most appropriate ad creative based on the available inventory and device requirements.

Multi-Touch Attribution

MTA

The process of assigning credit for conversion or desired user action to multiple ad interactions across the customer journey.

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.

Natural Language Processing

NLP

Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies enabling the understanding, processing, and categorization of text content.

Open Real-Time Bidding

oRTB

A standardized protocol for programmatic advertising that facilitates the automated buying and selling of ad inventory in real-time.

Opportunity To See

OTS

A measurement of the potential ad viewability within an advertising campaign. OTS quantifies the number of times an ad is made available to be seen by the target audience, regardless of whether the audience actively engages with or views the ad.

Optimization Algorithm

A software that automatically adjusts bidding parameters in real-time to maximize the performance of digital ad campaigns.

Pacing

The process of controlling the rate at which ads are delivered over a specific period to ensure that a campaign's budget, impression, or other performance goals are met.

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.

Prebid

An open-source header bidding platform that enables publishers to integrate multiple demand partners into their ad stack for real-time auctions. It provides a standardized framework for implementing header bidding, allowing publishers to achieve better competition for their ad inventory.

Preferred Deals

The direct deals between publishers and advertisers with a predetermined price but no spending commitments.

Price Discovery

The process of identifying the optimal bid prices for ad inventory in real-time.

Private Marketplace

PMP

An invitation-only marketplace where premium publishers make their inventory available to a selected group of advertisers.

Programmatic Guaranteed

A Programmatic Guaranteed (PG) deal, also called Direct Deal, is the highest priority Private Marketplace where the publisher has negotiated terms with a specific advertiser with exclusive access to the publisher's inventory in a 1:1 setup.

Publisher Ad Server

PAS

A specialized ad server designed for publishers to efficiently manage, optimize, and deliver their ad inventory across digital platforms.

Quick Response Time

QRT

The measure of how quickly a platform responds to bid requests made by demand-side platforms (DSPs) or other buyers.

Real-Time Bidding

RTB

Buying and selling of online ad impressions through real-time auctions that occur in the time it takes a webpage to load.

Recency Frequency Monetary

RFM

A user value scoring system used to evaluate and segment users based on their engagement and monetization patterns.

Revenue Per Mille

RPM

The revenue generated per one thousand impressions.

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.).

Second-Price Auction

SPA

An auction type where the winning bidder pays the price of the second-highest bid with a small increment.

Secure Real-Time Transport Protocol

SRTP

A protocol used for the secure delivery of video ads in real-time.

Sellers.json

A file used in the AdTech industry to provide transparency about the entities authorized to sell digital advertising inventory through an exchange.

Semantic Targeting

A form of advanced contextual targeting that leverages natural language understanding (NLU) to analyze and interpret the meaning and context of digital content.

Server-Side Header Bidding

SSHB

A header bidding implementation where the auction happens on a remote server rather instead of within the the user's browser.

Site Scanning

An automated process used to verify the content, quality, and safety of publisher websites.

Software Development Kit

SDK

A collection of tools, libraries, and documentation designed to assist developers in integrating with advertising platforms.

Structured Data Files

SDF

The standardized files used for the efficient and consistent exchange of campaign information between systems.

Supply Chain Object

SCO

A JSON object that provides transparency about all parties delivering an ad impression.

Supply Path Optimization

SPO

Tthe process of identifying and selecting the most efficient and cost-effective paths to access advertising inventory.

Supply Side Platform

SSP

A technology platform that enables web publishers to manage their advertising inventory and maximize revenue.

Time To First Byte

TTFB

The time interval between the moment a bid request is sent to a server and the receipt of the first byte of the server's response.

Transactions Per Second

TPS

A metric used to measure a platform's transaction capacity, indicating the number of transactions the system can process in one second.

UI

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

Unified ID

UID

An industry initiative aimed at creating a common user ID solution to streamline user identification.

Unity

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

Universal Pixel

A single tracking pixel used across multiple advertising campaigns or platforms to collect data for various purposes, such as audience targeting, conversion tracking, and performance analysis.

User Lifetime Value

ULV

The projected revenue a user will generate throughout their engagement with a brand or platform.

VAST Error Codes

VEC

Standardized error messages indicating issues in the delivery or playback of video ads within the Video Ad Serving Template (VAST) framework.

Video Ad Serving Template

VAST

Standardized XML-based framework for delivering video ads across various platforms and devices.

Video Completion Rate

VCR

The percentage of video ads that are watched in their entirety by viewers.

Video Player-Ad Interface

VPAID

Interactive ad format allowing video ads to engage with video players for dynamic and customizable ad experiences.

View-Through Attribution

VTA

Measuring conversions or actions occurring after a user views an ad but doesn't click on it, helping to assess ad influence.

Viewable Cost Per Mile

vCPM

The cost incurred by an advertiser for every 1,000 viewable impressions of an ad.

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.

Win Rate

The percentage of auctions won compared to the total number of auctions participated in.

Wrapper

A piece of JavaScript code that acts as a framework to manage multiple demand partners (advertisers or SSPs) in header bidding auctions. It ensures that all bids from participating partners are collected and evaluated within a set time frame, optimizing ad inventory monetization. Wrappers also handle timeouts, reporting, and bid prioritization, making it easier for publishers to manage multiple demand sources simultaneously.

Yield Optimization

Process of maximizing revenue by dynamically adjusting ad prices, formats, and placements based on real-time demand and performance data.