ChatGPT Explains 100 Programmatic Advertising Terms To a 5-Year Old

Let’s be honest...

Programmatic advertising can sound like a secret language,  DSPs, DMPs, pixels, and data flying everywhere.
So, we asked ChatGPT to explain 100 of the most common programmatic terms as if to a 5-year-old. The result? A fun, simple, and surprisingly clear way to understand how the ad world actually works.

Ready? Let’s make adtech adorable (again?).

A

1. Ad Exchange – A big digital shop where ads are bought and sold really fast.
2. Ad Network – A helper that connects people who make ads with people who show them.
3. Ad Server – A computer that delivers ads to your screen at the right time.
4. Ad Slot – The little space on a website where an ad can go.
5. Ad Tag – A tiny piece of code that tells the ad where to appear.
6. Ad Verification – A checker that makes sure ads go where they’re supposed to.
7. Advertiser – The person who wants to show you something to buy.
8. Agency Trading Desk (ATD) – A special team that helps brands buy ads using computers.
9. Artificial Intelligence (AI) – A smart robot brain that helps pick the best ads.
10. Audience Extension – Finding more people like the ones who already saw the ad.

B

11. Audience Segmentation – Putting people into groups who like similar things.
12. Attribution Modeling – Figuring out which ad helped someone decide to buy.
13. Banner Blindness – When people stop noticing ads on a webpage.
14. Behavioral Targeting – Showing ads based on what someone likes or does online.
15. Bid Request – When a website asks, “Who wants to show their ad here?”
16. Bid Response – When advertisers raise their hand and say, “Me!”
17. Bid Shading – Paying a little less than the full price but still winning.
18. Brand Lift – When people remember or like a brand more after seeing an ad.
19. Brand Safety – Making sure ads don’t show up in bad or unsafe places.
20. Campaign Frequency – How many times you show your ad to someone.

C

21. Click-Through Rate (CTR) – How many people click the ad after seeing it.
22. Contextual Targeting – Showing ads that match what the page is about.
23. Conversion Pixel – A secret counter that knows when someone does what you want (like buy something).
24. Cost Per Action (CPA) – Paying only when someone takes an action.
25. Cost Per Click (CPC) – Paying when someone clicks.
26. Cost Per Mille (CPM) – Paying for every 1,000 times your ad is seen.
27. Cross-Device Tracking – Knowing it’s the same person on phone, tablet, and laptop.
28. Cross-Screen Advertising – Showing ads on all those screens too.
29. Customer Data Platform (CDP) – A big toy box that keeps all the customer data together.
30. Creative Optimization – Changing pictures or words in ads to make them work better.

D – F

31. Data Management Platform (DMP) – A smart brain that sorts all the audience data.
32. Data Onboarding – Bringing offline info (like emails) into the digital world.
33. Deal ID – A special code for a private ad deal.
34. Demand-Side Platform (DSP) – The machine advertisers use to buy ads automatically.
35. Direct Deal – Buying ad space directly from a publisher, no auction needed.
36. Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO) – Ads that change based on who’s watching.
37. Data Clean Room – A safe place to mix data without breaking privacy rules.
38. Dayparting – Choosing what time of day to show ads.
39. Device ID – A name tag for your phone or tablet.
40. Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) – Billboards and screens you see outside, but digital.

G – I

41. Geofencing – Drawing an invisible line around a place to show ads only there.
42. Geo-Targeting – Showing ads to people in a certain city or area.
43. Header Bidding – A fair race where all advertisers bid at the same time.
44. Identity Graph – A map that shows how all your devices belong to one person.
45. Impression – When someone sees an ad.
46. Incrementality – Measuring how much extra goodness the ad caused.
47. In-App Advertising – Ads inside your favorite apps.
48. Insertion Order (IO) – A fancy contract that says “let’s run these ads.”
49. Interactive Ad – An ad you can play with or click on.
50. Inventory – All the places where ads can go.

K – M

51. Keyword Targeting – Picking words that help match ads to what people search.
52. KPI (Key Performance Indicator) – The score that tells if an ad did well.
53. Latency – When ads load slowly (and make everyone grumpy).
54. Lifetime Value (LTV) – How much a customer is worth over time.
55. Lookalike Audience – Finding new people who act like your best customers.
56. Machine Learning – Teaching computers to get smarter on their own.
57. Media Buying – The process of buying ad space.
58. Mobile Ad ID (MAID) – The special name your phone has for tracking ads.
59. Multi-Touch Attribution (MTA) – Giving credit to all the ads that helped, not just one.
60. Native Advertising – Ads that look like regular content.

O – R

61. Open Auction – A public race where everyone can bid for ad space.
62. Outstream Video – A video ad that plays outside of other videos.
63. Over-the-Top (OTT) – Ads on streaming TV (like Netflix or Hulu).
64. Pageview – When someone visits a webpage.
65. Pixel Tracking – A tiny dot that tells when an ad was seen or clicked.
66. Post-Bid Verification – Checking after the ad runs if it went to the right place.
67. Pre-Bid Targeting – Making smart choices before the ad even shows.
68. Private Marketplace (PMP) – An invite-only ad auction.
69. Probability Matching – Guessing who’s who using math.
70. Programmatic Direct – Buying ads automatically but in a private deal.

R – Z

71. Programmatic Guaranteed – A sure deal: you get this ad spot, no bidding.
72. Publisher – The person who owns the website showing ads.
73. Reach – How many people saw your ad.
74. Real-Time Bidding (RTB) – Auctions that happen in a blink.
75. Retargeting – Showing ads again to someone who visited your site.
76. Rich Media – Fancy, moving, or interactive ads.
77. Roadblock – Taking over all ad spots on a page at once.
78. ROI (Return on Investment) – Did you make more money than you spent?
79. ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) – How much you earned for every ad dollar.
80. Run of Network (RON) – Showing ads anywhere in a big network.

S – Z

81. Second-Price Auction – You win the auction but pay just a bit more than the next person.
82. Segment – A group of people with something in common.
83. Server-to-Server (S2S) – Computers talking directly without extra steps.
84. Sequential Messaging – Showing ads in a special order, like a story.
85. Share of Voice (SOV) – How much of the conversation your brand owns.
86. Supply-Side Platform (SSP) – The tool websites use to sell their ad spaces.
87. Tag Management System – A control center for all your tracking tags.
88. Third-Party Data – Info about people collected by someone else.
89. Viewability – Was the ad actually seen?
90. Whitelist / Blacklist – The “good list” and “bad list” for where ads can go.
91. Second-Party Data – Info shared between two trusted friends.
92. Session – The time you hang out on a website.
93. Supply Path Optimization (SPO) – Finding the fastest route for an ad to show up.
94. Targeting – Choosing who should see the ad.
95. Third-Party Cookie – A tiny tracker that follows you between sites.
96. Universal ID – One ID that helps ads know it’s still you.
97. View-Through Conversion – You saw an ad, didn’t click, but later bought something.
98. Walled Garden – A closed playground where only certain ads can play.
99. Yield Optimization – Helping websites make more money from their ads.
100. Zero-Party Data – Info people give you on purpose.

Why Explain Ads Like This?

Because adtech doesn’t have to sound like rocket science.

It’s really about using data, creativity, and smart tech to connect the right message with the right person at the right time.

At Eskimi, that’s what we do every day: make the complex world of programmatic advertising simple, efficient, and human.

‍Want to see programmatic magic in action?

Explore how Eskimi helps brands reach audiences smarter and faster,  across any screen, anywhere.

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