Consumers see digital display ads daily whether the ads are on the bottom of a weather app on a mobile device or on a page of a favorite news site. Most of these ads are part of campaigns from ad networks. Ad networks have agreements with a multitude of websites and apps allowing them to use their platform to show ads. With the use of a single ad network, advertisers can deliver their ad directly to their desired audience regardless of where that audience goes online.
For instance, when a person clicks on a link to read a news article, as the page loads a bidding process begins. Advertisers have campaigns in place that are bidding on the user’s viewership based on many factors such as the content being viewed, the location of the user, user demographics, etc. In the blink of an eye, the winning ad is shown along with the news article.