keywords and key words
AI Advertising
Glossary
The intersection of artificial intelligence and advertising is moving at lightspeed, and terminology can be confusing for the most seasoned marketers.
We’ve built this glossary to help you navigate the evolving landscape of AI Advertising ensuring you have the vocabulary to clearly navigate the landscape. Thrad is here to power your growth, from A to Z.
A
Active userPopular
A user who has opened or meaningfully engaged with an app within a defined time period, typically measured daily (DAU) or monthly (MAU).
Ad agency
A company that plans, creates, and manages advertising campaigns on behalf of brands and advertisers.
Ad exchange
A digital marketplace where advertisers and publishers buy and sell ad inventory in real time through automated auctions.
Ad network
A platform that aggregates ad inventory from multiple publishers and sells it to advertisers, acting as an intermediary between the two sides.
Ad revenue
The income generated from displaying advertisements within an app, website, or other digital property.
Ad serverPopular
Technology that stores, delivers, and tracks digital advertisements, deciding which ad to show to which user at what time.
Ad spend
The total amount of money an advertiser allocates or pays for advertising over a given period or campaign.
Ad stacking
A form of ad fraud where multiple ads are layered on top of each other in a single placement so only the top ad is visible, but impressions are counted for all of them.
Ad tech
The ecosystem of software, tools, and platforms used to plan, execute, deliver, and measure digital advertising campaigns.
AdAttributionKit
Apple's framework that enables privacy-preserving measurement of ad-driven app installs and conversions on iOS without revealing user-level data.
Adjust
A mobile measurement partner (MMP) that provides attribution, analytics, and fraud prevention tools for app marketers.
Advertisement
A paid message delivered through a media channel designed to promote a product, service, or brand to a target audience.
Advertiser
A business or individual that pays to promote its products, services, or brand through advertising channels.
Advertising waterfall
A prioritized sequence of ad networks or demand sources called one after another to fill an ad placement, with each source getting a chance if the previous one does not fill.
Alpha testing
The earliest phase of app testing, conducted internally or by a small group of users, to identify bugs and usability issues before a wider beta release.
Analytics
The systematic collection, processing, and interpretation of data to understand user behavior, measure performance, and inform marketing and product decisions.
Android App Links
A deep linking mechanism on Android that allows verified URLs to open directly in the associated app instead of the browser.
App Clip
A lightweight portion of an iOS app that users can access instantly for a specific task without downloading the full app from the App Store.
App store optimization (ASO)
The practice of improving an app's visibility and conversion rate within app store search results through optimizing metadata, keywords, visuals, and ratings.
App Tracking Transparency (ATT)
Apple's iOS framework that requires apps to request user permission before tracking their activity across other companies' apps and websites.
Apple Ads
Apple's advertising platform that allows marketers to promote their apps within the App Store search results and other Apple-owned inventory.
Application
A software program designed to run on a mobile device, desktop, or other platform to perform specific functions for the end user.
Application program interface (API)
A set of defined protocols and tools that allows different software systems to communicate and exchange data with each other.
Artificial intelligence (AI)
The use of machine learning algorithms and computational models to automate decision-making, optimize targeting, personalize content, and detect patterns in data.
Attribution
The process of identifying which ad, channel, or touchpoint was responsible for driving a user's conversion, such as an app install or purchase.
Attribution modeling
A framework or set of rules that determines how credit for a conversion is assigned across the various marketing touchpoints a user interacted with.
Attribution window
The defined period of time after a user clicks or views an ad during which a subsequent conversion can be credited to that ad interaction.
Augmented reality
Technology that overlays digital content onto the real-world environment, often used in interactive ad experiences.
Average revenue per daily active user (ARPDAU)Popular
A monetization metric calculated by dividing total daily revenue by the number of daily active users.
Average revenue per user (ARPU)
A metric calculated by dividing total revenue over a period by the number of users, indicating the average monetary value generated per user.
B
Banner ad
A rectangular display ad, typically shown at the top or bottom of a mobile screen or webpage, that promotes a product or service with static or animated creative.
Benchmarking
The practice of comparing your app's or campaign's performance metrics against industry standards, competitors, or historical data to evaluate relative success.
Beta testing
A pre-release testing phase where a near-final version of an app is distributed to external users to uncover bugs and gather feedback before public launch.
Biased attribution
An attribution outcome that is skewed or inaccurate because the measuring party has a financial incentive to claim credit for conversions.
Bots
Automated software programs that simulate human activity such as clicks, installs, or in-app events, often used to commit ad fraud and inflate campaign metrics.
C
Call to action (CTA)
A prompt in an ad or app that directs the user to take a specific desired action, such as "Install Now" or "Sign Up."
Callback
A server-to-server notification sent from one platform to another when a defined event occurs, such as an install or conversion being recorded.
Campaign optimization
The ongoing process of adjusting targeting, creative, bids, and other campaign variables to improve performance against defined goals.
Churn
The rate at which users stop using or uninstall an app over a given period, representing the loss of previously acquired users.
Click injection
A form of click spam on Android where a malicious app detects when another app is being installed and fires a fake click just before completion to steal attribution credit.
Click spam
A type of ad fraud where large volumes of fake or unseen clicks are generated to hijack organic installs and claim unearned attribution credit.
Click to install time (CTIT)
The elapsed time between a user's click on an ad and the first app open after installation, used as a signal to detect fraudulent clicks.
Click validation
The process of verifying that ad clicks are legitimate and originated from real users, filtering out fraudulent or invalid click activity.
Click-through rate (CTR)
The percentage of users who click on an ad after seeing it, calculated by dividing the number of clicks by the number of impressions.
Coarse conversion value
A low-granularity conversion value returned by Apple's privacy frameworks when crowd anonymity thresholds are not met for fine-grained data.
Cohort
A group of users segmented by a shared characteristic or time-based event, used to analyze behavior and performance trends over time.
Connected TV (CTV)
Television content streamed over the internet through smart TVs, streaming devices, or gaming consoles, which can serve targeted, measurable advertising.
Conversion
A completed user action that an advertiser has defined as valuable, such as an app install, purchase, registration, or subscription.
Conversion rate
The percentage of users who complete a desired action out of the total who were exposed to or interacted with an ad or landing page.
Conversion rate optimization (CRO)
The systematic practice of testing and improving elements of a listing, landing page, or user flow to increase the percentage of users who convert.
Conversion tracking
The measurement and recording of user actions that count as conversions, enabling marketers to evaluate which campaigns and channels drive results.
Conversion value
A numerical value assigned to a post-install event that represents its worth, used in privacy frameworks to communicate campaign performance.
COPPA
The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, a U.S. federal law that imposes strict requirements on how apps and websites handle personal data from children under 13.
Cost aggregation
The process of collecting and unifying ad spend data from multiple networks and campaigns into a single view for accurate ROI analysis.
Cost models
Pricing structures used in digital advertising that define how an advertiser is charged, such as per impression (CPM), per click (CPC), or per install (CPI).
Cost per action (CPA)
A pricing model where the advertiser pays only when a user completes a specified post-click action, such as a purchase or registration.
Cost per click (CPC)
A pricing model where the advertiser pays a set fee each time a user clicks on their ad.
Cost per install (CPI)
A pricing model where the advertiser pays a fixed amount for each app install generated by an ad campaign.
Cost per mille (CPM)
A pricing model where the advertiser pays a set price for every one thousand ad impressions served.
Cross-device tracking
The ability to identify and follow a single user's activity across multiple devices to build a unified view of their journey.
Crowd anonymity
A privacy threshold in Apple's SKAdNetwork that determines the granularity of postback data based on how many installs a campaign generates.
Customer acquisition cost (CAC)
The total cost of acquiring a new customer, calculated by dividing all marketing and sales expenses by the number of new customers gained.
Customer experience (CX)
The overall perception and satisfaction a user has across every interaction with a brand, product, or app.
Customer relationship management (CRM)
Software and strategies used to manage, analyze, and optimize interactions with current and potential customers throughout the user lifecycle.
D
Daily active users (DAU)
The number of unique users who engage with an app on a single calendar day, serving as a core metric for measuring app engagement.
Dashboard
A visual interface that consolidates key performance metrics, charts, and data from campaigns or app analytics into a single view.
Data clean room
A secure, privacy-compliant environment where two or more parties can match and analyze combined datasets without exposing raw user-level data.
Data management platform
A centralized platform that collects, organizes, and activates audience data from multiple sources to improve ad targeting and segmentation.
Data warehouse
A centralized repository that stores large volumes of structured historical data from multiple sources, optimized for querying, reporting, and analysis.
Deep linking
A technology that directs users to a specific page or content within an app rather than just opening the app's home screen.
Demand-side platform (DSP)
A software platform that allows advertisers to purchase ad inventory across multiple ad exchanges and networks through a single interface using real-time bidding.
Device emulator
Software that mimics a real mobile device, sometimes used by fraudsters to simulate installs and in-app events at scale.
Device ID
A unique identifier assigned to a mobile device used to track and attribute user activity across apps and ad campaigns.
Dynamic ads
Advertisements that automatically customize their creative elements in real time based on user data, behavior, or context.
E
Engagement
Any measurable user interaction with an app or ad, such as clicks, shares, session time, or in-app actions.
Events
Specific user actions tracked within an app — such as purchases, sign-ups, or level completions — that serve as data points for attribution and analytics.
Extract, transform, and load (ETL)
A data integration process that pulls raw data from multiple sources, converts it into a consistent format, and loads it into a destination system for analysis.
F
Fake installs
Fraudulent app installs generated by bots, device farms, or SDK spoofing that mimic real user behavior to siphon advertiser budgets.
FAST TV
Free ad-supported streaming television channels that deliver linear-style programming to viewers at no cost, monetized entirely through advertising.
Fill rate
The percentage of ad requests that are successfully filled with an actual ad, calculated by dividing impressions served by total requests made.
Fractional attribution
An attribution model that distributes credit for a conversion across multiple touchpoints in a user's journey rather than assigning full credit to a single interaction.
G
Gametech
The set of technologies, tools, and platforms purpose-built for developing, distributing, operating, and monetizing video games.
Geofencing
A location-based targeting technique that triggers ads, notifications, or data collection when a user's device enters or exits a defined geographic boundary.
Google Advertising ID (GAID)
A unique, user-resettable identifier assigned to Android devices that enables advertisers to track ad interactions and attribute installs.
Google Tag Manager (GTM)
A free tag management system from Google that lets marketers deploy and update tracking pixels, analytics tags, and conversion snippets without modifying source code.
Gross rating point (GRP)
A standard advertising metric that measures campaign reach multiplied by frequency, expressing the total volume of exposures as a percentage of the target population.
I
Identifier for advertisers (IDFA)
Apple's unique, user-resettable device identifier on iOS that allows advertisers to track and attribute ad engagement across apps.
Identifier for vendor (IDFV)
An Apple-assigned device identifier shared among all apps from the same developer on a single device, used for analytics without requiring tracking consent.
Impression
A single instance of an ad being rendered and displayed on a user's screen, serving as the foundational unit of measurement for ad exposure.
In-app bidding
An auction mechanism where multiple demand sources bid on an ad impression simultaneously in real time from within the app.
In-app notifications
Messages delivered directly within an app's interface while the user is actively using it, typically used to promote features or surface offers.
In-app purchase (IAP)
A transaction made within a mobile app — such as buying virtual goods or unlocking premium content — that generates direct revenue for the developer.
Incrementality
A measurement methodology that isolates the true causal lift of a marketing campaign by comparing outcomes of an exposed group against a holdout control group.
Install
The completed download and first opening of a mobile app on a user's device, serving as the primary conversion event for user acquisition campaigns.
Install referrer
A piece of data passed from an app store to an installed app that identifies which ad click, campaign, or referral source drove the download.
Installs per mille (IPM)
The number of app installs generated per one thousand ad impressions served, used to evaluate creative effectiveness and conversion efficiency.
Instant apps
Lightweight, modular versions of Android apps that users can run directly from a link without a full install.
Interstitial ad
A full-screen ad format displayed at natural transition points in an app that requires the user to engage or dismiss it before continuing.
Inventory
The total available ad placements a publisher has to sell across its apps or sites, measured in impressions and segmented by format and audience.
IP addressPopular
A numerical label assigned to a device connected to a network, used in ad tech for geographic targeting, fraud detection, and probabilistic attribution.
K
K-factor
A viral growth metric that measures how many additional users each existing user brings in, calculated by multiplying invitations sent by their conversion rate.
Key performance indicator (KPI)
A quantifiable metric selected to evaluate the success of a campaign or business objective, such as CPA, ROAS, or retention rate.
L
Lifecycle tracking
The ongoing measurement of user behavior across every stage from acquisition through retention, monetization, and churn.
Lifetime value (LTV)
The total net revenue a user is projected to generate throughout their entire relationship with an app, used to set acquisition cost thresholds.
Limit ad tracking (LAT)
A device-level user setting that signals the user's preference to opt out of interest-based advertising by restricting access to their advertising ID.
lockWindow
A configurable attribution setting that defines a fixed time window after install during which in-app events are attributed to the acquiring media source.
M
M-commerce
The buying and selling of goods and services through mobile devices, encompassing in-app purchases, mobile web transactions, and mobile wallet payments.
Machine learning
A branch of artificial intelligence where algorithms automatically improve their predictions by learning patterns from data, applied in ad tech for bid optimization and fraud detection.
Marketing automation
Software and workflows that automatically execute repetitive marketing tasks based on predefined rules or user behavior signals.
Marketing mix modeling
A top-down statistical analysis technique that uses aggregated historical data to quantify the impact of each marketing channel on overall business outcomes.
Media mix modeling (MMM)
An econometric approach that analyzes aggregated spend and performance data across all marketing channels to determine optimal budget allocation.
Mediation platform
A technology layer that manages and optimizes ad serving across multiple ad networks to maximize a publisher's fill rate and revenue per impression.
Metagaming
The strategic layer of engagement outside core gameplay — such as progression systems and social mechanics — designed to drive long-term retention.
Mobile ad fraud
Any deliberate activity that manipulates mobile advertising data through bots, click injection, or SDK spoofing to steal ad spend or distort metrics.
Mobile marketing
The practice of reaching and engaging consumers through mobile channels including in-app ads, push notifications, SMS, and mobile web.
Mobile measurement partner (MMP)
A third-party platform that provides unbiased attribution, analytics, and fraud protection by tracking which ad interactions drive installs and events.
Monetization
The strategy and methods by which an app generates revenue from its user base, typically through advertising, in-app purchases, or subscriptions.
Monthly active users (MAU)
The count of unique users who open or interact with an app at least once within a 30-day period.
Multi-touch attribution
An attribution methodology that assigns weighted credit to every marketing touchpoint a user interacted with along the path to conversion.
MVPD
A multichannel video programming distributor that delivers bundled television channels to subscribers and represents a key inventory source for video advertising.
N
Native advertising
A paid ad format designed to match the look, feel, and function of the surrounding content on the platform where it appears.
O
OEM advertising
Advertising delivered through original equipment manufacturer partnerships, such as pre-installed apps or recommendations on a device's home screen.
Offerwall
An in-app ad unit that presents users with a list of tasks or offers they can complete in exchange for in-app rewards or virtual currency.
Operating system
The foundational software (such as iOS or Android) that manages a device's hardware and provides the platform on which apps run.
Opt-in
A user's explicit, affirmative consent to receive communications, tracking, or data collection, typically required before any such activity begins.
Organic install
An app installation that occurs naturally without being directly attributed to a paid advertising campaign.
Over-the-top (OTT)
Content or advertising delivered directly to viewers via internet streaming, bypassing traditional cable, broadcast, or satellite television providers.
Owned media
Marketing channels fully controlled by a brand, such as its website, app, email list, or social media profiles.
P
Paid search
A digital advertising model in which marketers bid on keywords so their ads appear prominently within search engine results pages.
Partner
A third-party company — such as an ad network, agency, or media source — that collaborates with an advertiser to drive app installs or engagement.
Paywall
A monetization mechanism that restricts access to content or features until a user makes a payment or subscribes.
PC and console
Gaming platforms encompassing personal computers and dedicated gaming hardware, often analyzed as a distinct segment from mobile.
Personalization
The practice of tailoring ad creatives, content, or user experiences to individual users based on their behavioral data, preferences, or demographics.
Postback
A server-to-server callback that sends conversion or event data from one platform to another in real time to report installs or in-app events.
Predictive analytics
The use of historical data, statistical algorithms, and machine learning to forecast future user behaviors such as churn, lifetime value, or conversion likelihood.
Privacy manifests
Apple-required files bundled with iOS SDKs that declare what data types are collected, the reasons for collection, and which tracking APIs are used.
Privacy Nutrition Labels
Standardized disclosures on app store listings that summarize an app's data collection and usage practices before download.
Privacy Sandbox on Android
Google's initiative to develop privacy-preserving advertising APIs for Android that reduce cross-app tracking while still supporting personalized ads.
Privacy thresholds
Minimum aggregation levels enforced by privacy frameworks that withhold or obscure data when too few users meet a criteria, preventing individual identification.
Programmatic media buying
The automated, real-time purchase and placement of digital ad inventory using software platforms and algorithmic bidding.
Programmatic TV
The automated, data-driven buying and selling of television ad inventory across linear, connected, and addressable TV environments.
Publisher
An app or website owner that makes ad inventory available for advertisers by displaying ads to its audience.
Push notification
A short message sent from a server directly to a user's device that appears even when the app is not actively in use, used to drive re-engagement.
R
Raw data
Granular, unprocessed event-level records — such as individual installs, clicks, and in-app events — before any aggregation or transformation.
Re-engagement
A campaign strategy aimed at bringing back existing users who have become inactive by prompting them to return and interact with the app.
Real-time bidding (RTB)
An auction-based process in which ad impressions are bought and sold individually in milliseconds as a user loads a page or app screen.
Reattribution
The process of crediting a returning lapsed user's re-engagement to a specific marketing campaign after a defined period of inactivity.
Reattribution window
The configurable time frame during which a returning user's activity can be attributed to the re-engagement campaign that brought them back.
Referral marketing
A growth strategy that incentivizes existing users to recommend an app or product to new users, typically through shareable links or reward programs.
Reinstall
An event in which a user downloads and installs an app again after having previously uninstalled it from their device.
Remarketing
The practice of targeting users who have previously interacted with your app or brand with tailored ads to encourage further engagement.
Retargeting
A digital advertising technique that serves ads to users who have already visited your app or website but did not complete a desired action.
Retention rate
The percentage of users who return to an app after a specific time period following their initial install.
Return on ad spend (ROAS)
A performance metric calculated by dividing the revenue generated from a campaign by the amount spent on that campaign.
Return on investment (ROI)
A profitability metric that measures the net profit generated relative to the total cost of an investment, expressed as a percentage.
S
SDK spoofing
A type of mobile ad fraud in which bots simulate legitimate SDK signals to fabricate fake installs or in-app events without any real user activity.
Search engine optimization (SEO)Popular
The practice of optimizing a website or app store listing to rank higher in organic search results and increase discoverability.
Segmentation
The process of dividing a user base into distinct groups based on shared characteristics to enable targeted marketing.
Self attributing network
An ad platform that independently measures and reports conversions on its own inventory rather than relying on a third-party attribution provider.
Server-to-server (S2S)
A method of transmitting data directly between two backend servers, bypassing the client device, commonly used for secure conversion tracking.
Session
A single period of continuous user activity within an app, beginning when the app is opened and ending after a defined period of inactivity.
SKAdNetwork (SKAN)
Apple's privacy-centric attribution framework that provides aggregated, limited conversion data to advertisers without exposing user-level identifiers.
Smart banners
Adaptive web banners displayed on mobile websites that deep link users into an app or redirect to the app store based on device and context.
Social commerce
The integration of shopping experiences directly into social media platforms, allowing users to discover, browse, and purchase without leaving the app.
Software development kit (SDK)
A packaged set of tools, libraries, and documentation that developers integrate into an app to enable specific functionality such as analytics or ad serving.
STP
A strategic marketing framework — Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning — used to identify valuable audience segments and craft targeted messaging.
Sub-publishers
Smaller publishers within an ad network's inventory that receive traffic allocations from a parent network, often requiring monitoring for traffic quality.
Supply-side platform (SSP)
A technology platform that enables publishers to manage, sell, and optimize their available ad inventory across multiple demand sources programmatically.
T
Target rating points
A metric in TV and video advertising that quantifies the percentage of a specific target audience reached by an ad campaign, adjusted for frequency.
Targeting
The process of defining and selecting specific audience segments — by demographics, interests, behavior, or context — to receive a particular ad campaign.
Tech stack
The combination of software tools, SDKs, platforms, and services a company uses to build, measure, and optimize its marketing and product operations.
Temporary attribution
A provisional attribution assignment applied during the time between a user's initial engagement and the expiration of a measurement framework's reporting window.
Time of inactivity
The duration a user must be idle or absent from an app before their next engagement qualifies as a new session or makes them eligible for reattribution.
Tracker
A campaign-specific measurement URL that records user interactions and passes attribution data to an analytics platform.
Tracking parameter
A key-value pair appended to a URL that identifies the source and context of a user's interaction for analytics purposes.
U
Uninstalls
A metric tracking the number of times users remove an app from their devices, used to gauge user satisfaction and identify problematic experiences.
Universal linking
An iOS mechanism that uses standard HTTPS URLs to deep link users directly into specific in-app content, falling back to the web if the app is not installed.
Urchin tracking module (UTM)
A set of standardized query parameters appended to URLs to track the effectiveness of marketing campaigns in analytics platforms.
User acceptance testing (UAT)
The final testing phase in which real end-users validate that a product, feature, or integration meets business requirements before it goes live.
User acquisition (UA)
The process of driving new users to install and engage with an app through paid campaigns, organic strategies, or a combination of both.
User interface (UI)
The visual layer of an app or website — including buttons, screens, and navigation elements — through which users interact with the product.
User journey
The complete sequence of touchpoints and interactions a user experiences from initial ad exposure through install, engagement, and retention.
User stickiness
A measure of how frequently and consistently users return to an app, commonly expressed as the ratio of daily active users to monthly active users.
User-generated content (UGC)
Any content — such as reviews, photos, videos, or social posts — created by end-users rather than the brand, often leveraged for authenticity.
V
Video ad serving template (VAST) tag
An IAB-standard XML script that enables video ad servers to communicate ad details to video players for consistent cross-platform delivery.
View-through attribution (VTA)
An attribution model that credits a conversion to an ad impression that was viewed but not clicked, within a defined lookback window.
Virtual reality
An immersive technology that places users inside a fully computer-generated environment, creating new opportunities for experiential advertising.
W
Walled garden
A closed digital ecosystem that controls its own user data, ad inventory, and measurement, limiting third-party access to granular information.
Web-to-app script
A code snippet embedded on a website that detects mobile visitors and routes them seamlessly into the corresponding native app experience.
Web3
The decentralized internet paradigm built on blockchain technology, introducing new marketing channels through tokens, NFTs, and wallet-based identity.
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