> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://agenticadvertisingorg-snap-format-preview-links.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Glossary

## A

**Account Type**\
Classification of MCP session credentials as either "platform" (aggregator) or "customer" (direct advertiser/agency).

**Activation**\
The process of making a signal available for targeting on a specific platform and seat.

**Ad Context Protocol (AdCP)**
An open standard for AI-powered advertising workflows. AdCP defines domain-specific tasks and schemas that work over MCP and A2A as transports, enabling natural language interfaces for advertising operations.

**Agentic eXecution Engine (AXE)**\
The real-time execution layer that sits between orchestrators and decisioning platforms, handling dynamic audience targeting, brand safety enforcement, frequency management, and first-party data activation at impression time. See [AXE documentation](/dist/docs/2.5.3/media-buy/advanced-topics/agentic-execution-engine) for details.

**Signal Discovery**\
The process of finding relevant data signals (audiences, contextual, geographical, temporal) using natural language descriptions.

**Signal ID**\
A unique identifier for a signal within a provider's catalog.

**Signal Type**\
Classification of signals as "marketplace" (third-party), "owned" (first-party), "destination" (bundled with media), "contextual", "geographical", or "temporal".

## C

**CPC (Cost Per Click)**
Pricing model based on cost per click on the advertisement.

**CPCV (Cost Per Completed View)**
Pricing model based on cost per 100% video or audio completion.

**CPM (Cost Per Mille)**
Pricing model based on cost per thousand impressions. Traditional display advertising pricing.

**CPP (Cost Per Point)**
Pricing model based on cost per Gross Rating Point (GRP), commonly used in TV and audio advertising.

**CPV (Cost Per View)**
Pricing model based on cost per view at a publisher-defined threshold (e.g., 50% video completion).

**Completed View**
A video or audio ad that has been viewed to 100% completion. Used for CPCV pricing and completion rate metrics.

**Completion Rate**
The percentage of video or audio ads that are viewed to 100% completion (completed\_views / impressions).

**Customer Account**
Direct advertiser or agency account with specific seat access and negotiated rates.

## D

**Daypart**
Specific time-of-day segment for time-based advertising, commonly used in DOOH (e.g., morning\_commute, evening\_prime, overnight).

**Deployment** (Signals Protocol)
The availability status of a signal on specific platforms, including activation state and timing.

**Devices** (Signals Protocol)
Size unit representing unique device identifiers (cookies, mobile IDs) - typically the largest reach metric.

**Device Type** (Media Buy Protocol)
Targeting dimension for platform types: mobile, desktop, tablet, CTV, audio, DOOH.

**Decisioning Platform**
Technical infrastructure that selects which ad to serve at impression time. Receives activated signals and executes campaigns. Examples: DSPs (The Trade Desk), SSPs (Index Exchange, OpenX, PubMatic), ad servers (Google Ad Manager, Kevel).

**DOOH (Digital Out-of-Home)**
Digital advertising displayed on screens in public spaces such as billboards, transit stations, airports, and retail locations. Uses CPM or flat\_rate pricing with parameters for SOV, duration, and venue targeting.

**DSP (Demand-Side Platform)**
A type of decisioning platform that allows advertisers to buy advertising inventory programmatically.

## E

**Estimated Activation Time**
Predicted timeframe for signal deployment, typically 24-48 hours for new activations.

## F

**Flat Rate**
Fixed-cost pricing model where a single payment is made regardless of delivery volume. Common for sponsorships and takeovers.

**Frequency**
The average number of times an individual is exposed to an advertisement during a campaign.

## G

**GRP (Gross Rating Point)**
A unit of measurement for television and radio advertising representing 1% of the target audience. Used in CPP pricing models. Total GRPs = Reach % × Average Frequency. Measured by third-party providers such as Nielsen, Comscore, iSpot.tv, or Triton Digital.

## H

**Households**
Size unit representing unique household addresses, useful for geographic and family-based targeting.

## I

**Impressions** (Media Buy Protocol)\
The number of times an ad is displayed, used for pricing and delivery tracking.

**Individuals** (Signals Protocol)\
Size unit representing unique people, best for frequency capping and demographic targeting.

**Inventory**\
Available advertising space on websites, apps, or other media properties.

## M

**MCP (Model Context Protocol)**\
The underlying protocol framework that enables AI assistants to interact with external systems.

**Marketplace Signal**\
Third-party signal available for licensing from data providers.

## N

**Natural Language Processing**\
The AI capability that allows audience discovery through conversational descriptions rather than technical parameters.

## O

**Owned Signal**\
First-party signal data belonging to the advertiser or platform.

## P

**Platform Account**
Master account representing an advertising platform that can syndicate signals to multiple customers.

**Pricing Model**
The method by which advertising inventory is priced and billed. AdCP supports CPM, CPC, CPCV, CPV, CPA, CPL, CPP, and flat rate models.

**Pricing Option**
A specific pricing model offered by a publisher for a product, including rate, currency, and parameters.

**Prompt**
Natural language description used to discover relevant signals (e.g., "high-income sports enthusiasts", "premium automotive content", "users in urban areas during evening hours").

**Provider**
The company or platform that supplies signal data (e.g., LiveRamp, Experian, Peer39, weather services).

## Q

**Quartile (Video)**
Milestones in video ad viewing: Q1 (25% viewed), Q2 (50% viewed), Q3 (75% viewed), Q4 (100% complete). Used to measure video engagement.

## R

**Reach**
The number or percentage of unique individuals exposed to an advertisement at least once during a campaign.

**Relevance Score**
Numerical rating (0-1) indicating how well a signal matches the discovery prompt.

**Relevance Rationale**
Human-readable explanation of why an audience received its relevance score.

**Revenue Share**
Pricing model based on a percentage of media spend rather than fixed CPM.

## S

**Sales Agent**
An MCP server that exposes publisher inventory for discovery and purchase. Handles product discovery, media buy creation, and campaign management. Examples: Publisher ad servers exposing AdCP interfaces, sales house platforms.

**Screen Time**
Total duration an ad was displayed across all DOOH screens, measured in seconds. Used for DOOH delivery reporting.

**Seat**
A specific advertising account within a decisioning platform, typically representing a brand or campaign.

**Segment ID**
The specific identifier used for signal activation, may differ from signal\_id.

**Share of Voice (SOV)**
Percentage of available ad inventory allocated to a specific advertiser in DOOH loops. Expressed as 0.0-1.0 (e.g., 0.15 = 15% SOV).

**Signal Agent**
An MCP server that provides signal discovery and activation services. Enables natural language audience discovery and deploys signals to decisioning platforms. Can be private (owned by a single principal) or marketplace (licensing data to multiple principals). Examples: LiveRamp, Experian, Peer39.

**Size Unit** (Signals Protocol)
The measurement type for signal size: individuals, devices, or households.

**SSP (Supply-Side Platform)**
A type of decisioning platform that helps publishers sell advertising inventory programmatically. SSPs connect to multiple demand sources and make ad selection decisions. Examples: Index Exchange, OpenX, PubMatic, Magnite.

## T

**Takeover**
Exclusive 100% share of voice placement on DOOH inventory for a specific time period. Priced as flat\_rate with sov\_percentage: 100.

**Third-Party Signal**
Signal data licensed from external providers, also known as marketplace signals.

**Time-Based Pricing**
Pricing structure based on duration (hourly, daily, or daypart) rather than impressions. Common in DOOH advertising using flat\_rate model.

## U

**Usage Reporting**
Daily reporting of signal utilization for billing and optimization purposes.

## V

**Venue**
Physical location where DOOH advertising is displayed (e.g., airport terminal, transit station, retail store). Used for DOOH targeting and delivery reporting.

**Venue Package**
Named collection of DOOH screens across specific venues (e.g., 'times\_square\_network', 'airport\_terminals'). Used in DOOH pricing parameters.

## B

**Budget**\
Total monetary allocation for a media buy, which can be distributed across multiple packages.

## F

**Flight**\
A time-bounded advertising campaign segment, mapped to line items in ad servers.

## H

**Households** (Signals Protocol)\
Size unit representing unique household addresses, useful for geographic and family-based targeting.

**Human-in-the-Loop (HITL)** (Media Buy Protocol)\
Protocol feature allowing publishers to require manual approval for operations.

## L

**Line Item**
The basic unit of inventory in ad servers like Google Ad Manager, represented as packages in AdCP.

**Loop Duration**
The length of time for a complete rotation of ads in a DOOH display, measured in seconds. Used to calculate frequency and share of voice.

**Loop Plays**
The number of times an ad was displayed in a DOOH loop rotation. Key metric for DOOH delivery reporting.

## M

**MCP (Model Context Protocol)**\
The underlying protocol framework that enables AI assistants to interact with external systems.

**Marketplace Signal**\
Third-party signal available for licensing from data providers.

**Media Buy**\
A complete advertising campaign containing packages, budget, targeting, and creative assets.

## P

**Package**\
A specific advertising product within a media buy, representing a flight or line item with its own pricing and targeting.

**Principal**\
An authenticated entity (advertiser, agency, or brand) with unique access credentials and platform mappings.

**Product**\
Advertising inventory available for purchase, discovered through natural language queries.

## Acronyms

* **AdCP**: Ad Context Protocol
* **API**: Application Programming Interface
* **AXE**: Agentic eXecution Engine
* **CPM**: Cost Per Mille (thousand)
* **DSP**: Demand-Side Platform
* **DMP**: Data Management Platform
* **MCP**: Model Context Protocol
* **PII**: Personally Identifiable Information
* **RTB**: Real-Time Bidding
* **SSP**: Supply-Side Platform
* **TTD**: The Trade Desk
* **UTC**: Coordinated Universal Time

## Units and Measurements

**Time Formats**

* All timestamps use ISO 8601 format (e.g., "2025-01-20T14:30:00Z")
* Dates use YYYY-MM-DD format
* Activation times expressed as human-readable estimates ("24-48 hours")

**Currency**

* All pricing in specified currency (typically USD)
* CPM expressed as cost per 1,000 impressions
* Revenue share expressed as decimal (0.15 = 15%)

**Size Reporting** (Signals Protocol)

* Counts expressed as integers
* Units clearly specified (individuals/devices/households)
* Dated with "as\_of" timestamp for freshness

**Impression Reporting** (Media Buy Protocol)

* Delivery counts by package
* Pacing metrics for optimization
* Dimensional breakdowns available

## Error Codes Reference

Common error codes across all AdCP implementations:

* `SEGMENT_NOT_FOUND`: Invalid or expired segment ID
* `ACTIVATION_FAILED`: Unable to complete activation process
* `ALREADY_ACTIVATED`: Signal already active for platform/seat
* `DEPLOYMENT_UNAUTHORIZED`: Insufficient permissions for platform/seat
* `BUDGET_EXCEEDED`: Operation would exceed allocated budget
* `CREATIVE_REJECTED`: Creative asset failed platform review
* `INVALID_PRICING_MODEL`: Requested pricing model unavailable
* `RATE_LIMIT_EXCEEDED`: Too many requests in time window
* `AUTHENTICATION_FAILED`: Invalid or expired credentials
* `VALIDATION_ERROR`: Request format or parameter errors