Jargon Buster

A piece of software that can be overlaid within a browser, app environment or operating system by consumers which will filter out requests for advertising to appear within certain digital environments. Some adblockers will also block data calls used for tracking purposes or basic user functionality where a data exchange is necessary such as flight booking systems.

Ads.txt is a project designed by IAB Tech Lab to increase transparency in the programmatic advertising ecosystem. Ads.txt stands for Authorised Digital Sellers and is a simple, flexible and secure method that publishers and distributors can use to publicly declare the companies they authorise to sell their digital inventory, through a simple text file attached to a URL (an ads.txt file can be accessed by searching for examplewebsite.com/ads.txt). 

By creating a public record of Authorised Digital Sellers, ads.txt will create greater transparency in the inventory supply chain, and give publishers control over their inventory in the market, making it harder for bad actors to profit from selling counterfeit inventory across the ecosystem. As publishers adopt ads.txt, buyers will be able to more easily identify the Authorised Digital Sellers for a participating publisher, allowing brands to have confidence they are buying authentic publisher inventory. 

More information can be found here.

Also known as “ad networks,” a company that provides a single point of contact for sales representation for multiple websites by aggregating all the sites’ advertising inventory. Ad networks are used by advertisers, agencies to reach audiences and by publishers, typically to sell remnant inventory. 

When a web site owner or publisher displays an advertisement (such as a promotional link) on its site for a brand or merchant and is paid for the performance of the advertisement, this is known as affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing activity generates large amounts of online sales in the UK and worldwide. 

A website or computer application that pulls together information from diverse sources. There are different types of aggregators, in the advertising industry, these notably include content, data, news, social media, and/or video aggregators.