Glossary
Key terms and definitions for ad tech and the Anima platform.
A
Ad Slot
A specific placement on a webpage where an ad can appear. Each slot has defined sizes and configuration.
Ad Unit
Google Ad Manager's term for an ad placement. Can be linked to Anima ad slots.
Above the Fold (ATF)
Content visible without scrolling. Premium ad positions with higher viewability.
Auction
The process where demand partners compete by bidding on ad inventory. See Header Bidding.
Auctions (metric)
The count of auctions run — the denominator the dashboard uses for Fill Rate. The dashboards measure Auctions, not "ad requests"; there is no "Requests" metric.
B
Below the Fold (BTF)
Content that requires scrolling to see. Lower viewability, good candidates for lazy loading.
Bid
An offer from a demand partner to pay for an impression. Expressed as CPM.
Bid Shading
Algorithms used by buyers to optimize bids in first-price auctions. See Auction Types.
Bid Rate
Percentage of ad requests that receive at least one bid from a partner.
Breakout
On the Monetization dashboard's Supply and Traffic tabs, the control that splits the trend by a dimension — Ad Slots / Layouts / Pages / Ad Units (Supply) or Device / App Version / Browser (Traffic). The Core Web Vitals dashboard has its own Breakout with a narrower choice — All or Device Type. (Distinct from the per-device "breakout" flag in ad-slot and wrapper-config settings, which means a value differs by device — mobile vs. desktop — rather than a single all-devices value.)
C
Cardinality Control
On the Monetization dashboard, the control that appears when you break down by a high-cardinality dimension (e.g. Ad Slots or Pages). It keeps the chart readable via Top N (show the top 5/10/20 by a chosen metric, rolling the rest into an "Other" series) or Pinned (hand-pick specific items to compare).
CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift)
Core Web Vital measuring visual stability — how much content shifts during load.
CPM (Cost Per Mille)
Revenue per 1,000 impressions. The standard pricing unit in display advertising.
CWV (Core Web Vitals)
Google's metrics for page experience: LCP, CLS, INP. See CWV and Ads.
D
Demand Partner
Companies that bid on your inventory (SSPs, exchanges, networks). See Demand Overview.
DSP (Demand-Side Platform)
Platform used by advertisers to buy ad inventory programmatically.
E
eCPM (Effective CPM)
Revenue ÷ Impressions × 1000 — effective revenue per 1,000 impressions. This is the dashboard's price metric.
Experiment
A/B test comparing different configurations. See Experiments.
F
Fill Rate
Share of auctions that return a served ad. Fill Rate = Impressions ÷ Auctions.
First-Price Auction
Auction where the winner pays their actual bid. Current industry standard. See Auction Types.
Floor Price
Minimum bid accepted for an impression. See Floors.
G
GAM (Google Ad Manager)
Google's ad server, used to manage and serve ads. See GAM Setup.
H
Header Bidding
Programmatic technique where multiple demand sources bid simultaneously before the ad server is called. See Header Bidding 101.
I
IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau)
Industry organization that sets advertising standards, including ad sizes.
Impression
A single instance of an ad being displayed.
INP (Interaction to Next Paint)
Core Web Vital measuring page responsiveness to user interactions.
L
Layout
A collection of ad slots that load together on specific pages. See Layouts.
Lazy Loading
Delaying ad loading until the slot is near the viewport. Improves page speed.
LCP (Largest Contentful Paint)
Core Web Vital measuring loading performance — time until the largest element appears.
P
Prebid
Open-source header bidding framework. Anima is built on Prebid technology.
Programmatic
Automated buying and selling of advertising, as opposed to direct deals.
R
Refresh
Automatically replacing an ad with a new one after a time interval. See Ad Refresh.
Release
A deployed version of your configuration. See Releases.
Revenue
Total earnings from ad impressions.
RPM (Revenue Per Mille)
Revenue per 1,000 pageviews. Revenue ÷ Pageviews × 1000.
S
Second-Price Auction
Auction where the winner pays the second-highest bid + $0.01. Legacy model, largely replaced by first-price.
SSP (Supply-Side Platform)
Platform connecting publishers to ad exchanges and demand sources.
T
Timeout
Maximum time to wait for partner bids before proceeding with the auction. See Timeout Settings.
TTFB (Time to First Byte)
Time until the first byte of the page is received. Affects page speed.
V
Viewability
Percentage of ads that were actually seen by users. Industry standard: 50% of pixels visible for 1 second.
W
Wrapper
JavaScript library that runs header bidding on your site. See Wrapper Overview.
Win Rate
Percentage of auctions won by a specific partner.
Numbers
300x250
Medium Rectangle — the most common ad size.
728x90
Leaderboard — common desktop header size.
320x50
Mobile Leaderboard — common mobile header size.