An ad server is simply a computer or web server. This server is backed up by a database, which stores the advertisements and used them in internet marketing. The web server delivers those advertisements to website visitors. The web server content is constantly updated, so that the ads displayed web page or website contains new advertisements when the page is refreshed or visited by a user.
- Ad serving: Ad serving is the service and technology, which places ads on websites. The purpose of the ad serving technology companies is to deliver the targeted ads based on the website visitor’s interest. These companies provide software to the advertisers and websites to serve ads, different advertisement campaigns progress monitor, count the ads, and choose ads that make advertiser or website most money. These will helps for an advertiser to determine Return On Investment (ROI) on a particular website.
- How it works? When a visitor visits your website, it will display ads along with the content. If you are subscribed to a third party ad server, they place the ads. Means content is from your site and ads are from other website or server. Browser assembles all the information that fed from different sources because both website’s original content and the ads appear on the same page. To assemble the ads correctly, website directs the browser to collect the data from different website’s ad server.
- Functionality: The functions of the ad servers are uploading rich media and advertisements, trafficking advertisements according to different of business, targeting ads to different content and users, optimizing and tuning based on results, reporting interaction metrics, post impression activities, post click, clicks and impressions. The other advanced functions are frequency capping which makes users to see the ads for a limited time as well advertisers can also set a frequency cap on spending of money and limit their ads. Sequencing ads provides users to see messages in a specified order. It is also called surround sessions.
- Optimization and targeting: One aspect of this technology is semi-automated and automated. Which means targeting, placement, optimizing bid prices or other characteristics? Significant methods in ad serving technology include behavioral targeting, contextual targeting and creative optimization.
An ad server can be run by third party or locally or remote ad servers. Remote ad servers serve the ads different domains, which are owned by different publishers. The ads delivering by these are from a central source, so the publishers and advertisers can track their online advertisement distribution. It is single location for distribution and rotation of the ads across the web. Local ad servers are run by a single publisher. It can allow serving the ads to that publisher’s domains.