What is an ad exchange?

The process behind an ad server

A technology that manages the process of ad delivery or ad serving is called an ad server. It is used by advertisers, publishers and the ad agencies to store advertisements online and to distribute it to desktops and mobile websites and applications.

How does an ad server work?

 

Ad publishing is done by communicating with visitor’s browser by an ad server to understand the publisher’s requirements and to distribute the suitable ads to customers. The processes followed during the ad serving are.

 

For example: If person A visits the publisher’s website djaxadserver.com, the visitor browser triggers the publisher ad server and records an impression.

The ad server selects the ad tag based on the criteria specified by the publisher.

If the publisher ad server has an access to SSP, the real-time bidding process is initiated and the ad tag which earns the highest revenue to the publisher is chosen from the ad exchange. This process occurs in real time, where the winning advertiser’s ad will be published on the website.

TThe winning advertiser’s ad server picks the right advertisement according to publisher’s criteria.

The advertiser ad server instructs the visitor’s browser to find the advertisement.

Finally, the web page loads with the advertisement and the advertiser ad server records the impression.

The process of ad delivery occurs in a fraction of a second within the duration of a page load.

In the absence of ad exchange

 

The ad server matches the publisher requirement with internal advertiser ads before distributing the advertisement online.

The criteria matched are frequency capping, targeting categories, browsing behavior, and ad specifications.

When the ad is delivered, the ad server observes the impression, clicks, and leads made on the advertisement.

The monitored details are stored in statistical reports for each advertisement along with the advertiser payment and publisher revenue.