An Ad server is a web server technology that makes it possible for digital platforms to host, optimize, and deliver advertisement content
Ad servers work by helping businesses in picking relevant ads and delivering them to the right audience. It’s widely used in online and programmatic advertising. In the initial stages of an ad server, purposes were mainly to gather, store and serve data. Nowadays, with the advancement of technology, you can use ad server software for more sophisticated uses such as hosting, managing and optimizing your media buying activities.
An ad server is similar to a content management system (CMS) in the sense that it manages the display of content. The bonus is that an ad server has a decision-making ability. It uses complex algorithms that allow it to decide which ads to display according to publishers’ goals.
There are two types of ad servers: the sell-side(1st party) and the buy-side(3rd party).
The sell-side ad server has the purpose of serving and managing ads to be displayed on digital platforms. This type of ad server is used by publishers.
The buy-side is used by marketers. The buy-side ad server allows marketers and advertisers to launch, optimize, and track their advertisements.