The ad tech glossary

309 terms, each answered in one sentence, then explained properly with an analogy and a worked example.

A

Adjusted EBITDA: Adjusted EBITDA is earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, further adjusted by the company to exclude items such as stock-based compensation and one-time costs; it is a non-GAAP measure.
ANA (Association of National Advertisers): The ANA (Association of National Advertisers) is the main US trade association for advertisers and marketers, founded in 1910, known for research on media transparency and programmatic waste.

Contribution ex-TAC: Contribution ex-TAC is a non-GAAP metric, headlined notably by Criteo, that measures revenue after subtracting traffic acquisition costs and other direct costs of delivering the service.

Earnings report: An earnings report is the periodic announcement, usually quarterly, in which a public company discloses its revenue, profit and other key results, often with an investor call and updated guidance.
EV/EBITDA: EV/EBITDA is a valuation ratio that divides a company's enterprise value (market cap plus debt minus cash) by its EBITDA, showing how many years of operating earnings the business is priced at.

Form 10-K: Form 10-K is the comprehensive annual report that US public companies must file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including audited financial statements, business description and risk factors.
Form 10-Q: Form 10-Q is the quarterly report US public companies file with the SEC for each of the first three fiscal quarters, containing unaudited financial statements and management's discussion of results.
Form 8-K: Form 8-K is the "current report" US public companies file with the SEC to announce major events, such as acquisitions, executive changes or earnings releases, usually within four business days.

Gross spend (gross billings): Gross spend is the total amount of advertising money that flows through a platform, including the portion paid on to publishers and partners, rather than just the platform's own revenue.
Gross vs net revenue: Gross vs net revenue is the accounting choice between reporting everything customers pay (gross) or only what a company keeps after paying partners (net), which complicates comparisons.
Guidance (forecast): Guidance is a public company's own forecast of its future results, such as next quarter's revenue or full-year adjusted EBITDA, usually given as a range alongside an earnings report.

Holding company (agency holdco): An agency holding company (holdco) is a parent group that owns many advertising, media, creative and marketing agencies, such as WPP, Publicis Groupe, Omnicom, Dentsu and Havas.

IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau): The IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) is the US-based trade association for the digital advertising and media industry, founded in 1996, which publishes research, guidelines and policy positions.
IAB Tech Lab: IAB Tech Lab is the non-profit standards body for digital advertising technology, founded in 2014, which develops specifications such as OpenRTB, VAST, ads.txt, sellers.json and the Open Measurement SDK.

Market capitalization: Market capitalization is the total stock-market value of a public company, calculated as its share price multiplied by the number of shares outstanding.
Media rebates: Media rebates are payments, credits or free inventory media owners give agencies for the volume of client spend they bring, which may or may not reach advertisers.

Net revenue retention: Net revenue retention (NRR) is the percentage of revenue a company keeps from an existing group of customers over a period, including expansions, downgrades and losses, but excluding new customers.

Prebid.org: Prebid.org is the independent, member-funded organisation that governs and maintains the open-source Prebid header bidding projects, including Prebid.js, Prebid Server and Prebid Mobile.

Revenue ex-TAC: Revenue ex-TAC is revenue minus traffic acquisition costs (TAC), the amounts paid to publishers and partners for the ad space or traffic, showing what an ad company keeps.
Revenue share: A revenue share is an agreement in which partners split the money earned by an agreed percentage, such as an ad network paying a publisher 70% of ad revenue.

TAG (Trustworthy Accountability Group): TAG (Trustworthy Accountability Group) is an advertising industry initiative, founded in 2014 by the ANA, 4A's and IAB, that runs certification programs against ad fraud, malware, piracy and for brand safety.
Take-private deal: A take-private deal is when an investor, usually a private equity firm, buys all the shares of a public company so it is delisted from the stock exchange and becomes privately owned.

WFA (World Federation of Advertisers): The WFA (World Federation of Advertisers) is the global association of advertisers and national advertiser associations, based in Brussels, that represents brand owners on marketing, media and policy issues.