An ad server is a technology that publishers and advertisers can use to create, manage, track, and optimize their ad campaigns across channels.
What can ad servers do?
A full-service ad serving platform should be able to:
- Host and distribute online advertising campaigns
- Use data and algorithms to build unique audience segments
- Pair publishers and advertisers to help them reach relevant audiences
- Support multi-channel campaigns across websites, email, and push notifications
- Launch different ad formats, including display, text, image, video, native, and sponsored ads
- Provide 100% monetization by backfilling unsold ad spots before they reach the consumer
- Gather and analyze key metrics, such as impressions, clicks, and conversions
Why are ad servers important?
Ad servers are important for advertisers and publishers because they automate the processes of buying, selling, and tracking ads across target audiences and channels.
An advertiser, for instance, might use an ad server to bid on relevant ad inventory available on premium publisher websites. Meanwhile a publisher might use an ad server to sell email ad inventory to brand partners who want to reach its newsletter subscribers. This will allow the publisher to monetize its email newsletters and open up an entirely new revenue channel.
