1. Internet Ad Serving
Norman White
2013

2. Where do Internet Ad Servers Fit? How do they work?
Think of the CGI model, but with the server delivering ads to an Image box
i.e. Page contains an ad container
<IMG SRC=
Cookie info is information collected about this user locally
Browser reserves space for an image
Get request gets sent to ADSERVER with whatever relevant local information is available (at a minimum, the IP Address)
ADSERVER combines info from the user with other information it has.
ADSERVER runs an on-line auction to determine what ad to serve
ADSERVER serves up an “appropriate” ad and sends it to the browser.
ADSERVER now can identify who got the add and what the response was
Completely new way of delivering and measuring ads.
Developed by Double Click in 1998, DC eventually bought by Google for $3.1 billion
Formed a whole new industry.