Jargon Buster

An illegal method whereby seemingly legitimate e-mails (appearing to come from a well-known bank, for example) are used in an attempt to source personal information that can be used to steal a user's identity.

The smallest unit of measure for graphical elements in digital imagery, used as the standard unit of measure for ad creative (i.e. 300x250 pixels). Pixels may also represent x/y coordinates relevant to a given space, such as the browser window, an application workspace or the user’s computer screen (see also “Tracking Pixel”).

Podcasting involves making an audio file of content that is available to download and stream. 

Any advertising experience where visiting a website in an initial browser window initiates a secondary browser window to deliver an ad impression directly above the initial browser window. These are currently discouraged for desktop web and mobile web experiences due to consumer feedback resulting from research by the Coalition for Better Ads. 

The screening of a video ad after viewing video content.

The screening of a video ad before viewing video content.

Any advertising that appears before requested content has loaded, blocking the consumer from progressing until either a countdown has elapsed or the duration of an ad experience has been achieved. These are currently discouraged for desktop web and mobile web experiences due to consumer feedback.

The buying and selling of online ad inventory through automated methods rather than human actions. This includes but is not limited to Real-Time Bidding (RTB).

This process involves optimising the programmatic supply chain to reduce carbon emissions. For example, a media owner might reduce the number of programmatic partners it uses by focusing on those that deliver impressions and revenue, cutting those that don’t deliver impressions but that still generate carbon through ad calls.