The Programmatic Glossary
A practical glossary designed to help marketers, advertisers and ad-tech professionals understand the terminology that powers programmatic advertising
Platforms & Tech
Ad Network
A company that acts as a middleman between publishers (websites and apps with ad spaces) and advertisers (brands wanting to show ads). Ad networks aggregate lots of publishers' inventory together and sell it in bulk to advertisers, making it easier for both sides to do business.
HOW IT WORKS
An ad network on boards hundreds or thousands of publishers and collects their available ad inventory. It then sells access to that inventory to advertisers, typically offering targeting capabilities and reporting.
EXAMPLE
A small food blog alone may not be attractive enough for a large brand to partner with directly, whereas an ad network that aggregates 500 food and lifestyle sites becomes much more appealing. This allows the brand to reach a large, relevant audience across all those sites through a single deal.
RELATED TERMS
Supply-side platform (SSP) | Ad exchange | White-label platform | Demand-side platform (DSP)
★ LIMELIGHT INSIGHT: Limelight's white-label platform is built specifically for ad networks, giving them the programmatic infrastructure, integrations and tools to compete at scale without building technology from scratch.
