Monetization Glossary

Contracted impressions

The number of impressions purchased by an advertiser for a particular ad for the entire duration of a proposal.

Contracted rate

For DFP sales management, this is the rate at which an individual line item was sold, or for aggregated line items, the average contracted rate (based on delivery) of all items.

Contracted unit

For DFP sales management, this is the number of units (Impressions, Clicks, or Days) purchased by an advertiser for a particular ad for the entire duration of a proposal.

Cookie

A small text file containing a string of characters that is set on your computer when you visit a website. When you visit the website again, the cookie helps that site recognize your browser. Cookies may store user preferences and other information. DoubleClick cookies contain no personally identifiable information.

Correlator value

A value passed in ad requests, handled automatically by the GPT libraries and the GMA/IMA SDKs. The correlator is common to all ads on a page, but unique across page views. Ad requests with the same correlator value received close together in time are considered a single Page View for serving purposes.

Creative

A code snippet, file or link that generates an ad. (The terms creative and ad may be used interchangeably.) DFP supports a variety of creative types, including Third party, Image, DoubleClick tag, and DoubleClick Rich Media.

Creative assignment

Type of assignment used to specify characteristics of how the creative is served, such as the click-through URL, the position of the creative in a sequential rotation, and so on.

Creative association

The assignment of one or more creatives to a line item.

Creative code

HTML or JavaScript code used for third-party or custom creatives which tells the browser how to render or generate the creative.

Creative rotation

The technique by which multiple creatives assigned to a line item are displayed, either evenly, weighted, sequential, or optimized.

Creative wrapper

Snippet of code that wraps around a creative when it is served. When DFP serves a creative to an ad unit with (a) creative wrapper label(s) applied, it also inserts the creative wrappers into the code that is delivered to the webpage. You can use creative wrappers to implement third-party tracking software or for any other purpose.

Daisy chaining

Process whereby a creative is required to call to multiple third-party ad servers.

Dayparting

Configuring day and time targeting settings for line items. The process of dividing the day into different parts in order to run ads only during specific times.

Default ad impressions

A gray GIF system default ad (an “unfilled impression”) will serve to inventory where no line items are targeted and the user will see a blank ad slot.

Delivery

The process of DFP showing ads.

Delivery goal

The amount of impressions or clicks that a line item is contracted to deliver.

Delivery Inspector

Gives information on which ads were delivered. When unexpected ads deliver, use the Delivery Inspector to find out why.

Delivery priority

The priority level at which a line item is set to deliver. This can range from higher priorities (sponsorship and standard) to lower priorities (house).

Delivery progress bar

A graphic in the UI that indicates whether or not a line item is on target to achieve its goal.

Delivery rate

The rate at which a line item is being delivered to users.

Density-independent pixels (dp)

Screen size is usually expressed in density-independent pixels, or dp. Here’s a simple formula to convert screen pixels (px) to density pixels (dp):

dp = px * (160 / dpi)

Dots per inch (dpi) are pixels within an inch of the screen.

DMA

Designated Market Area. DMAs expose a specific regional market group to the same content or ads. They frequently cover one metropolitan area, in some cases grouping together multiple smaller cities. Many DMAs are available for targeting within DFP.

Dynamic allocation

A network-level mechanism designed to maximize your remnant and Ad Exchange revenue without compromising reservations. Both remnant and Ad Exchange line items are given a chance to serve if Ad Exchange/AdSense is eligible for the request (using line item targeting for Ad Exchange/AdSense or ad unit monetization for AdSense).

Engaged view

In the context of skippable ads: you have the ability to traffic reserve, CPM-based video ads that can be skipped or exited after a certain duration has elapsed. The “Skip” button appears after 5 seconds. If viewed to completion or for 30 seconds, whichever comes first, an “Engaged view” is counted in reporting.

Even rotation

A type of rotation of creatives, where all creatives in a line item are delivered in an approximately even proportion.

Evenly

With true even delivery, an ad is shown at a constant rate throughout the campaign duration. If an ad needs to appear on a website or app several thousand times over a week (for example, 7000 times over a week) with a true even delivery, it would serve 1000 impressions of the ad each day. In contrast, frontloading of the ad campaign serves more impressions during the start of the campaign, and the serving rate gradually decreases as the ad approaches its serving goals.

Exclusion label

A label that you can apply to a line item which prevents it from being delivered along with other line items that have the same label. For example, if you’re doing business with both Airline X and Airline Y, you can apply the exclusion label ‘airline’ to their line items, which will prevent Airline X’s line items from being shown on the same webpage at the same time as Airline Y’s.

Fallback

In the context of creatives, a creative that is shown if a user’s browser lacks the technology to display the intended creative. A fallback is a backup item that is called upon when the intended item does not function as planned.

First-party cookie

A cookie that’s set by the domain the user is visiting instead of by a different, third-party domain.

Flight

For DFP sales management, flighting allows you to create multiple proposal line items based on an original line item, using all the same settings and targeting of the original line item and distributing contracted volume or delivery goal and budget across the new line items.

Flight dates

The date range for an ad campaign to run.

Floating

A type of ad that floats on top of a page’s content. A floating ad can move with content as a user scrolls, or maintain a locked position on a page as a user scrolls.

Forecast adjustment

An adjustment made to the anticipated traffic to your website or app. DFP currently uses 28 days of prior traffic for forecasting. If parts of your website or app have traffic patterns that aren’t captured in the default 28-day sample (because new content was created or you have traffic spikes during events that recur more than 28 days apart), you can apply a fixed or historic forecast adjustment to better reflect your traffic patterns.

Forecasting

The process of estimating how much ad inventory a website or app will have in the future.

Free-form-targeting

Targeting option that you can use if you don’t want to define values in advance, or if you need to define more than 50,000 key-value pairs.

With free-form targeting, you can have thousands of possible targeting values, because there’s no need to define each value ahead of time. When you need to target a specific value, you can simply enter that targeting value into your line item.

Once you target a line item to a free-form targeting value, the value will be saved and you’ll be able to select it from a list the next time you target a line item to that key.

Frequency capping

Helps to limit how often an ad from a line item is served to the same user in a specific period of time. Supported time ranges are minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months, and multiple capping rules may be applied. For example, you can set a frequency cap limiting the same user to one impression per day and three impressions per week.

Frontloaded

If an ad needs to appear on a website or app several thousand times over a week (for example, 7000 times per week) and the “Frontloaded” delivery option is selected, the platform will try to serve 25% extra ad impressions at the start of the week (1250 impressions) and continue to serve more than necessary until later in the week when delivery will tail off until all 7000 impressions have been served.

Google Publisher Console

Provides troubleshooting tips and information about ad performance to DFP publishers, overlaid directly onto their website or app. It’s another way for publishers to retrieve information and take action on their Google ads as they browse their site.

Google Publisher Tag (GPT)

A specific type of ad tag that uses a Google-provided JavaScript library to define and configure an ad request made to DFP.

Google Publisher Toolbar

A Chrome extension that provides in-site ad overlays and details about the ad request, ad unit, order, line item, and creative. This tool is extremely useful for debugging ad delivery and tagging issues.

Grace period

An extension, in days, of a line item’s end date. The line item will continue delivering until it reaches its goal or the end of its grace period, whichever comes first.

Guaranteed

Line items that are contractually obligated to deliver a requested number of impressions. DFP ensures these items deliver in full through reserving inventory for the line item. Contrast this with Non-guaranteed line items, which are used to fill “leftover” or remnant impressions.

Guaranteed line items include: Sponsorship and Standard.

Hosted creative

Creative image files you can upload to Google for free. Google will then manage these files and serve them directly to your site visitors.

House ad

A line item type typically used for ads that promote products and services chosen by you.

Identifier

A value assigned to a particular user or device and is used to assist in ad serving functionality. The identifier contains no personally identifiable Information, can be reset by the user at any time, and respects user options to limit or opt out of ad tracking. Identifiers are used for audience list targeting, frequency capping, and sequential creative rotation.

Examples of identifiers are cookies (used on web and mobile web), mobile advertising IDs (used within mobile apps), and publisher provided identifiers (PPID, used for cross-screen serving). Users always have the option of opting out of any identifier used by Google.

IDFA

The mobile advertising ID for Apple. Mobile advertising IDs allow developers and marketers to track activity for advertising purposes.

Metro

Targeting type that stands for Metropolitan area.

Network

1. The top-level business relationship, such as a network of websites or an ad network.
2. A remnant line item type used in DFP to serve ads to a specific percentage of your remnant traffic.

Non-guaranteed

Line items that are most commonly used to fill your site’s unsold inventory if not contractually obligated to deliver a requested number of impressions to other Guaranteed line items.

Non-guaranteed line items include: Network, Bulk, Price Priority, House, AdSense, and Ad Exchange.

Noscript block

A block of code used as an alternative when a user blocks JavaScript in their browser or when their browser can’t support client-side scripting. Same as noscript code.

Noscript code

A block of code used an alternative when a user blocks JavaScript in their browser or when their browser can’t support client-side scripting. Same as noscript block.

Optimized creative rotation

An option where DFP gives roughly 75% of the impressions to the creative with the highest click-through rate, and the remaining 25% to the other creatives (to validate that the previously chosen “best” creative still has the highest click-through rate).

Order

An agreement between an interactive advertising seller and a buyer that specifies the details of an advertising campaign. Orders contain one or more line items.

Out-of-page

A creative that is displayed outside of a webpage or app (for example, pop-ups and pop-unders).

Overbook

To book an ad (or multiple ads) for a greater number of impressions or clicks than are forecasted to be available. In most cases, this leads to underdelivery of one or more ads.

Page awareness

The process where DoubleClick for Publishers records which impressions occurred together when a page is viewed, when you run a forecast on roadblock ads.

Page view

A common concept across the web, representing a particular user loading and viewing a webpage one time. In DFP ad serving, all ad requests corresponding to a page view are considered together because the behavior of any one of these ads affects what else might be eligible to serve. For example, an Exclusion Label prevents two ads with the same label from serving in the same Page View.

Parent

The upper level in a hierarchical system, such as DFP’s ad unit structure. The lower level is known as the child.

Parent inventory unit

The upper level of an inventory hierarchy. Every ad unit you define in your network has a parent inventory unit based on where you create the ad unit in the inventory hierarchy.

Peel down

A creative that shows a glimpse of your ad in the corner of a webpage. When the user interacts, the rest of the ad peels down to reveal the full message.

Personally Identifiable Information (PII)

Any information that could be used to identify a specific user, such as an email address or a phone number. In the interests of protecting end-user privacy, Google ads product policies mandate that publishers must not pass any data to Google that Google could use or recognize as personally identifiable information.

Placement

A collection of one or more ad units that can be targeted as a group. You can add inventory units to a placement to simplify the targeting of ads.

Pod

For video ads, this is a dynamic grouping of ads next to each other.

Podding

For video ads, this is the process of grouping ads dynamically.

Poster image

For native video ads, image file to be shown while the video is loading, or until the user clicks to play the video. If this is not included, the first frame of the video is used. This image also displays after video completion.

Product

For DFP sales management, this is a template for a line item that contains inventory, cost information, and targeting criteria.

Programmatic

Automated, machine-based selections for purchasing display advertising.

Proposal

For DFP Sales Management, this is a negotiable set of line items or inventory.

Push-down

A type of expanding ad that pushes down the content of a webpage when the creative expands, moving the site out of the way to display the ad. Sometimes written as “push down”.

Rate adjustment

For DFP sales management, this consists of a boolean matching function and a single adjustment/feature within an adjustment group.

Rate book

For DFP sales management, this is the reference containing rate card information. Describes what you can sell, prices, approvals, etc., for all of your inventory.

Rate card

For DFP sales management, this is the document detailing prices for various ad placement options. Essentially a price list. In the case of online ad serving, this list is highly dynamic. It contains a base rate and a list of one or more adjustments. Applies any relevant adjustments to a line item to calculate a rate for that item.

Rate card cost

For DFP sales management, this is the price an advertiser will pay for impressions delivered through the line item (CPM) or clicks resulting from those impressions (CPC). You can set the rate card cost in the line item of an order or the ad product.