Offerwall and ad tech glossary.

Start hereAdvertising Glossary: 73 Terms Explained SimplyCPM, CPC, CPA, ROAS, click IDs, postbacks, GAID and IDFA, offerwalls, and more: 73 advertising terms grouped by what they help you do, each in one or two plain sentences, with links to the full guides.

A

• Ad ExchangeAn ad exchange is a digital marketplace where buyers bid on single ad impressions in real time. Here is how the auction works, how an exchange differs from an ad network and an SSP, why auctions moved to first price, and which exchanges you will meet.
• Ad MediationAd mediation lets several ad networks compete for each ad slot in your app. Here is how the waterfall and in-app bidding work, how hybrid setups combine them, and where an offerwall fits.
• Ad NetworkAn ad network buys ad space from many publishers and sells it to advertisers in one place. Here is how the flow works, how networks price ads, the main types, how they differ from ad exchanges, SSPs and DSPs, and how to pick one.
• Affiliate NetworkAn affiliate network connects brands that pay per result with the publishers who send them customers. Here is who does what, how tracking and payouts work, how the network earns, how it compares with an in-house program, and how to pick one.
• Are Offerwalls LegitAn honest look at whether offerwalls are legit: where the money comes from, the real risks with purchases, subscriptions, data and fake sites, and how to judge a site and an offer before you start.
• ARPDAUARPDAU is average revenue per daily active user. Here is the formula, a worked example split by revenue source, how it differs from ARPU, what moves it, and how rewarded ads and offerwalls change it.
• ARPPUARPPU is average revenue per paying user. Here is the formula, how it links to ARPU and payer conversion, gross vs net, cohort vs calendar, sourced benchmarks, and how to raise it without losing players.
• ARPUARPU is average revenue per user. Here is how to calculate it, how ARPDAU and ARPPU differ, how ARPU connects to LTV and ROAS, and how publishers and advertisers each put it to work.
• Attribution in Mobile MarketingAttribution decides which ad gets credit for an install or a sale. Here is how last click and view-through attribution work, why attribution windows change your numbers, what MMPs do, and how privacy rules on iOS and Android changed it.

B

• Break-Even ROASHow to calculate break-even ROAS from your real margin, turn it into a target ROAS, and apply it to ecommerce, lead gen, and app cohorts, with a table by margin and a free calculator.

C

• CACCAC, or customer acquisition cost, is what you spend to win one new paying customer. The formula, what to include, a worked example, and how CAC differs from the CPA in your ad dashboard.
• Chargeback in Affiliate MarketingThe two meanings of chargeback, a bank card dispute and an advertiser taking back a conversion, how one triggers the other, the time windows involved, and how a rewards site should handle each.
• Churn RateChurn rate is the share of customers or users you lose in a period. Here are the customer and revenue churn formulas, how to turn monthly churn into annual churn, how churn works in apps, published 2026 benchmarks, and the fixes that move it.
• Click IDs and Sub IDsWhat click IDs and sub IDs are, how they travel through tracking links and come back in postbacks, what they are used for, and the mistakes that break sub ID tracking or leak personal data.
• Click Injection and SDK SpoofingHow click spamming, click injection, SDK spoofing, device farms, emulators, and bots steal credit for app installs, the signals that give each one away, and what advertisers and publishers can do about them.
• Conversion WindowA conversion window is how long after a click or view a conversion still counts for an ad. Here is how it works, the defaults on Google Ads, GA4 and Adjust, and how to pick one.
• Cookie StuffingHow cookie stuffing plants affiliate cookies on people who never clicked, the real eBay prosecutions, how networks spot it, how it differs from click injection, and why signed server-to-server tracking leaves it little to grab.
• CPAWhat cost per action means as a metric and as a pricing model, how to calculate it, how it relates to CPL, CPI, and CPS, and how to work out a CPA you can afford.
• CPA NetworkA CPA network connects advertisers who pay per action with publishers who send the users. Here is who does what, how payouts and tracking work, how conversions are approved, and where fraud fits in.
• CPA vs Revenue ShareCPA pays a fixed amount once per action, revenue share pays a percentage of what the customer spends over time. How cash flow and risk differ for each side, when each model fits, hybrid deals, and how reversals work.
• CPCWhat cost per click means, how to calculate it from spend or from CPM and CTR, how click auctions set the price, when paying per click makes sense, and how to protect it from invalid clicks.
• CPEWhat cost per engagement means in social, display, and app marketing, how to calculate it, how CPE compares with CPI and CPA, and how to choose an engagement worth paying for.
• CPIWhat cost per install means, how to calculate it, what moves the price, how CPI compares with CPA and CPE, and how to find the most you can afford to pay per install.
• CPLWhat cost per lead means, how to calculate it, how to work out the most you can pay for one lead, what counts as a lead, and how to stop paying for fake ones.
• CPMWhat cost per mille means, how to calculate it and plan reach from a budget, how CPM differs from eCPM and RPM, when buying impressions makes sense, and why viewability matters.
• CTR vs CVRCTR measures how many people click an ad; CVR measures how many of those clicks turn into results. Here are both formulas, a funnel example, why a high CTR can hide a weak campaign, and how pricing models decide who carries the risk.

D

• DAU/MAU RatioThe DAU/MAU ratio measures stickiness: how many of your monthly users come back on a typical day. Here is the formula, how to read it, cautious ranges by app type, and practical ways to raise it.
• Deep LinkA deep link opens a specific screen inside an app instead of its home screen. Here is how custom URL schemes, Android App Links and iOS Universal Links differ, what deferred deep links add, and how campaigns use them.
• Device FingerprintingWhat device and browser fingerprinting is, which signals it uses on the web and in apps, how accurate it really is, and what GDPR, the ICO, Apple, Google and modern browsers say about it.
• DSP vs SSPA DSP buys ad impressions for advertisers and an SSP sells them for publishers. Here is how they meet in real-time bidding, what ad exchanges, ad servers, header bidding, ads.txt and sellers.json do, and where offerwalls sit.

E

• eCPIeCPI is total spend divided by installs, whatever you bought. How to convert CPM, CPC and CPA buys into eCPI, paid vs blended eCPI, and why a cheap install can still cost too much.
• eCPM vs RPMeCPM and RPM both measure earnings per 1,000 of something. The difference is what you count, and that choice changes how you compare pages, ad units, and offerwalls.

F

• Fill RateWhat fill rate means in ad monetization, how to calculate it, how it differs from match rate and show rate, why a lower fill rate can earn more, and how fill works on an offerwall.

G

• GAID and IDFAWhat the Google advertising ID and Apple IDFA are, how GAID vs IDFA differ in availability and user control, what Android 13 and App Tracking Transparency changed, how MMPs use them, and the privacy rules that apply.
• GAID Deprecation 2026Where the Google advertising ID stands in November 2026: what Google announced in 2022, why the Android Privacy Sandbox was retired in 2025, what is confirmed, what is only speculation, and what advertisers, app developers and offerwall publishers should do now.
• Geo-Targeting in AdvertisingGeo-targeting shows ads and offers only to people in chosen countries or regions. Here is how location is detected, why it is never perfect, why payouts change by country, and what it means for privacy and offerwalls.
• GPT SiteWhat a get-paid-to (GPT) site is, the ways users earn on one, how the site itself makes money, and how to tell a legit GPT site from a scam.

H

• Header BiddingHeader bidding asks several ad exchanges and SSPs for bids at the same time, before your ad server decides. Here is how it works, client-side vs server-side, Prebid.js and wrappers, the effect on page speed, and when a small site should bother.
• HMACHMAC in plain English: how a keyed hash proves a message is genuine, why it beats a plain hash, and tested HMAC-SHA256 verification code in PHP, Node.js, and Python.

I

• In-App Bidding vs WaterfallHow a mediation waterfall and in-app bidding each decide which ad network fills an ad request, how hybrid setups mix them in AdMob, AppLovin MAX and LevelPlay, and what changes for latency and transparency.
• Incent vs Non-Incent OffersWhat incent and non-incent traffic mean, why advertisers pay differently for each, why some offers say "no incent", what happens when rewarded users reach a non-incent offer, and how Google Play and the App Store treat incentivized actions.
• Invalid Traffic (IVT)What invalid traffic means, how the Media Rating Council splits it into GIVT and SIVT, what Google counts as invalid, and how publishers keep it out of their numbers.
• IP ReputationHow sites judge an IP address: hosting ranges, VPN and Tor exit lists, abuse reports, proxy scans and location mismatches, why honest users get flagged, and how to handle it fairly.

L

• LTVLTV, or customer lifetime value, is what one customer is worth over the whole time they stay. The formula, a worked example, how marketers use it, and the mistakes that inflate it.

M

• MMPWhat a mobile measurement partner does, how install attribution works on Android and iOS, what changed with App Tracking Transparency and AdAttributionKit, and when you need an MMP.

O

• Offer CapAn offer cap limits how many conversions, clicks or how much spend an offer can take in a day, week, month or in total. Here is why advertisers cap, the main cap types, what happens when a cap is hit, and how publishers plan around it.
• OfferwallHow offerwalls work for users, advertisers, and publishers, which offers they show, and what separates a trustworthy offerwall from a bad one.

P

• Playtime OffersPlaytime offers reward you for minutes played or levels reached in a game. How they differ from install and multi-event offers, how advertisers track them, and why rewards arrive late or go missing.
• Postback MacrosPostback macros are placeholders like {transaction_id} in your postback URL that the network fills with real values when it calls your server. Here is how they work, with Moonetix's full macro list.
• Postback URLWhat a postback URL is, what one looks like before and after its macros are filled in, which statuses it reports, how to handle them safely, and why postbacks go missing.
• Postback vs Pixel TrackingHow image, JavaScript, and iframe pixels track conversions, why browsers and ad blockers make them miss results, how server-to-server postbacks compare on reliability and fraud, and when a hybrid setup makes sense.
• Programmatic AdvertisingProgrammatic advertising is the automated buying and selling of ad impressions through software. Here is how RTB, private marketplaces and programmatic guaranteed work, who sits in the supply chain, what ads.txt and sellers.json do, and what it means for publishers.
• Publisher in Affiliate MarketingA publisher is the traffic side of affiliate marketing: the site, app, game, newsletter or community that sends people to advertisers and earns per result. Here is how publishers differ from advertisers and networks, the main models, and how they get paid.

R

• Residential ProxyA plain explainer of residential proxies: how they differ from datacenter proxies, mobile proxies, VPNs, and Tor, where their IP addresses come from, and why rewards sites and offerwalls detect and block them.
• Retention Rate in AppsRetention rate is the share of users who come back after their first day. Here is how D1, D7 and D30 retention are calculated, classic vs rolling retention, how to read a cohort table, and how retention relates to churn.
• Rewarded AdsRewarded ads give users something of value, such as coins or an extra life, in exchange for watching an ad or completing an offer. Here are the main formats, how each pays, what eCPMs look like, and the rules that keep them fair.
• ROASHow to calculate return on ad spend, how it differs from ROI, how to find your break-even ROAS from your margin, and how pay-per-result pricing makes it predictable.

S

• Server-to-Server (S2S) TrackingHow server-to-server tracking reports conversions without the browser: the click ID round trip, how it differs from pixels and cookies, how S2S calls are secured, its pros and cons, and the privacy rules that still apply.
• SKAdNetwork and ATTApp Tracking Transparency decides whether an iOS app may track a user, and SKAdNetwork and AdAttributionKit measure ads for everyone else. Here is how they work in 2026, what postbacks contain, and what advertisers can still see.
• Smartlink in Affiliate MarketingA smartlink is one tracking link that sends each visitor to the offer that best matches their country, device, and OS. How the routing works, where it helps, where it hurts, and how it compares with a direct offer link and an offerwall.
• SOI vs DOI OffersWhat SOI and DOI mean on affiliate offers, why double opt-in usually pays more, how each one is checked for fraud, the consent rules behind them, and how to present both honestly to your users.
• Survey RouterHow survey routers match users to market research surveys, why people get screened out, what quotas, LOI and IR mean, and what a publisher can set up so users screen out less and trust the wall more.

T

• Tier 1, 2 and 3 CountriesWhat Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 countries mean in advertising, a common 2026 list, what changes from tier to tier, and how to choose countries for a worldwide campaign.
• Tracking LinkA tracking link records a click, gives it a click ID, and sends the visitor on to the offer, so a later conversion can be matched back to the click. A labeled example, the redirect chain, and what breaks it.

V

• ViewabilityWhat viewability means, the MRC viewable impression standard for display and video, how Google Active View measures it, how it moves eCPM, and why it does not apply to pay-per-result offers.
• Virtual Currency in AppsA virtual currency is a unit like coins or gems that exists only inside your app or game. Here is soft vs hard currency, earned vs bought, the store rules, and how an offerwall pays users in it.

W

• Webhook vs PostbackA postback is a webhook built for conversions. Here is how the two differ in shape, direction, signing, retries, and statuses, with example requests and a handler checklist.
• What Does SDK Stand ForWhat a software development kit is, how it differs from an API, what adding one to your app really costs, and when a simple link does the same job.