A service, typically run by a third-party provider, that connects advertisers with websites that have advertising space. The ad network allows advertisers to reach larger audiences by placing their ads on multiple sites at the same time. Ad networks can offer many options to advertisers, such as display, video and native ads. Publishers usually provide advertisers with the means for targeted advertising.
Ad networks provide a revenue stream for publishers. Advertisers usually pay the third party per click, that is, every time users click on their ad.
To deliver the ad to the right audience, ad networks collect a large amount of user data, sometimes without the user’s consent, enabling tracking and profiling. Some ad networks have also been vehicles for the distribution of malware by malicious advertisers.
Further reading:
See also: BEHAVIOURAL ADVERTISING
Hannak, A., Sapiezynski, P., Molavi, K.A., Krishnamurthy, B., Lazer, D., Mislove, A., Wilson, C., 2013. Measuring personalization of web search. In: Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on World Wide Web, 527–38, https://doi.org/10.1145/2488388.2488435.
Li, Z., Zhang, K., Xie, Y., Yu, F. and Wang, X., 2012. Knowing your enemy: understanding and detecting malicious web advertising. In: Proceedings of the 2012 ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security, 674–86, https://doi.org/10.1145/2382196.2382267.
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Hannak, A., Sapiezynski, P., Molavi, K.A., Krishnamurthy, B., Lazer, D., Mislove, A., Wilson, C., 2013. Measuring personalization of web search. In: Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on World Wide Web, 527–38, https://doi.org/10.1145/2488388.2488435.
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Li, Z., Zhang, K., Xie, Y., Yu, F. and Wang, X., 2012. Knowing your enemy: understanding and detecting malicious web advertising. In: Proceedings of the 2012 ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security, 674–86, https://doi.org/10.1145/2382196.2382267.
