Advertising technology (AdTech)
An umbrella term describing the tools that advertisers use to buy, measure and analyze digital advertising efforts.
Agency Holding Company
The industry term used to describe parent advertising agency companies that own smaller advertising agencies. The term is often used to describe the “Big Six” agency holding companies: WPP, Omnicom, Publicis Groupe, Interpublic, Havas and Dentsu.
American Federation of Musicians (AFofM)
A labor union that represents professional instrumental musicians in the United States and Canada.
Anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT)
Measures to prevent criminals and terrorists from abusing the financial system.
Application Programming Interface (API)
A set of rules or protocols for two or more software applications to communicate with each other.
Arbitrage
An arbitrage in sports betting is when a bettor makes multiple bets on the same event across different sportsbooks to guarantee a profit no matter the result. This is usually possible due to different sportsbooks offering different odds on the same event.
Artificial intelligence (AI)
Computer systems which can perform complex tasks normally associated with human beings. Such tasks include learning, problem-solving, recognizing, understanding, translating, analyzing and instructing the operation of machinery or robots.
Augmented reality (AR)
Enhancement of the real physical world by the use of technology to overlay digital content onto the real world.
Automated decision-making
The use of data, machines and algorithms to make decisions in a range of contexts, including public administration, business, health, education, law, employment, transport, media and entertainment, with no human oversight or intervention.
Betting bots
Software that automatically bets on behalf of users, based upon a gambling system or betting strategy to decide which bets to place.
Brand safety
A set of measures that work to protect the reputation of a brand from the negative or damaging effects of undesirable or inappropriate advertising environments. These measures can include employing blocklists or allowlists, preventing ads from being displayed on websites in certain content categories (such as piracy, adult, hate speech and known malware sites) or partnering with third-party vendors.
Collective bargaining agreement
An agreement between an employer and a union representing employees, such as SAG-AFTRA or AFofM.
Creator economy
A software-facilitated economy that allows creators, such as social media influencers, bloggers, and other content creators, to earn revenue from their activity, mainly on social media platforms.
Cyberworld
The world of inter-computer communication; a real or virtual world of information in cyberspace.
Data accuracy
In data protection terms, data accuracy means ensuring that data is not incorrect or misleading as to any matter of fact. It also means keeping the data up to date and, if any data is found to be inaccurate, making sure such it is corrected or deleted as soon as possible.
Data minimization
A principle under data protection laws around the world that requires the identification of the minimum amount of relevant personal data needed to fulfil a specific purpose and to process only that information.
Digital assets
Anything of value that is represented digitally or electronically – examples include cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and NFTs.
Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)
A U.S. copyright law focusing on the relationship between copyright and the internet.
Deepfakes
Content resulting from the manipulation or generation of audio-visual media by AI, often a video or sound recording, that portrays someone doing or saying something that they did not.
Extended reality (XR)
An umbrella term for computer-generated environments merging physical and virtual worlds, including virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR).
Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) terms
A voluntary licensing commitment that standards organizations often request from the owner of aStandard Essential Patent (i.e. a patent that is, or may become, essential to practice a technical standard).
Fair use
Under U.S. copyright law, an affirmative defense to copyright infringement that permits limited use of copyright-protected material without requiring permission from the rights holder.
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
The primary piece of legislation relating to data protection and privacy in the EU and also implemented in the UK. It came into force in May 2018.
Influencer
A person with the ability to influence the opinions of an audience on social media. This can involve persuading their audience to buy particular products or services.
Ingestion
The process of importing data from a source to a database for storage and analysis.
Intellectual property (IP)
Intangible property resulting from creations of the mind, legally protected by, for example, patents, trademarks, registered designs and copyrights.
Interoperability
The ability for different computer software systems to exchange information and communicate with one another with minimal intervention.
Invalid traffic (IVT)
Both non-human traffic and illegitimate traffic that must not be counted as legitimate advertising impressions, clicks or conversions or otherwise paid for, including traffic resulting from General Invalid Traffic (GIVT) and Sophisticated Invalid Traffic (SIVT) or such other industry-understood methods of producing non-human traffic and illegitimate traffic.
Machine learning
A branch of AI and computer science that focuses on the use of data and algorithms without being specifically programmed.
Media buying
The process of purchasing advertising space or time on mediums such as television, radio, print, digital, out-of-home and other forms of media to reach the right audiences.
Media planning
The process by which advertisers develop a comprehensive strategy to reach a target audience through various media channels, which involves analyzing audiences, media channels, platforms, messaging and ads to discover the most effective marketing methods to promote the brand or product.
Modding
The act of making changes and modifications to software or hardware in order to create a bespoke version.
Natural Language Processing (NLP)
An AI technique that gives computers the ability to understand text and spoken words in much the same way human beings can.
Non-fungible token (NFT)
A cryptographic token recorded on a blockchain that is unique and cannot be replaced.
Odds calculations
A measure of the likelihood of a particular outcome and the corresponding potential return on a wager. Bettors use odds calculations to assess value and potential profit.
Open (network)
A network that is constructed on an open standard, which means it can be accessed and used by anyone.
Patent
An intellectual property right that permits the inventor to stop third parties from making, selling, using, or importing an invention.
Permissionless (network)
An open blockchain network whereby nobody is denied access or the ability to verify the network.
Personal data
Defined in the GDPR and under other international privacy legislation to cover information relating to an identified or identifiable living individual – examples include a name, an identification number, location data or one or more factors relating to that person’s physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity.
Play to earn (P2E)
A class of video games and virtual worlds where gamers play for crypto token rewards.
Predictive analytics
The use of data, statistical algorithms and machine learning on historical data to answer questions, identify trends and make forecasts.
Programmatic buying
The purchase or acquisition of media through automated buying platforms. Sometimes, but not always, this is through real-time bidding (RTB)
Protocol
A set of rules or code that enables data to be shared between computers. It is used to govern how blockchain technology functions – examples include the Hyperledger, Corda, Quorum and MultiChain protocols.
Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA)
A labor union representing actors, journalists, dancers, DJs, news writers, recording artists, singers, and other media professionals in the United States.
Shallowfakes
A method of manipulating media content utilizing simple video, photo, or audio editing software rather than AI or deep learning algorithms.
Smart contract
A self-executing contract that exists in a blockchain network, with terms written in code.
Sound-alike
A recording intended to imitate the sound of a well-known record, the style of a popular recording artist, or a specific musical trend.
Spear-phishing
The fraudulent practice of sending emails ostensibly from a known or trusted sender in order to induce specifically targeted individuals to reveal confidential information. Differs from ‘bulk phishing’, which is less targeted.
Statistical accuracy
The proportion of answers that an AI system gets correct or incorrect. An AI system does not necessarily need to be 100% statistically accurate to comply with the accuracy principle in data protection law.
Trademark
A word, phrase, slogan, design or logo that operates as an indicator of source for goods or services.
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
An agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce serving as the national patent office and authority for trademark registration.
Virtual reality (VR)
The use of computer modeling and simulation to allow users to interact with an artificial, three-dimensional (3D) visual or other sensory environment.
Voice clones
The creation of an artificial simulation of a person’s voice.
Web3
A hypothesised decentralized internet built on distributed technologies such as blockchain and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) rather than centralized on servers owned by individuals or corporations. Termed ‘web3’ because it is thought that it will be the third major evolution of the internet after the World Wide Web (web1) and the user-generated web (web2, or social media).
White paper
In the technology context, a document released by developers that explains the technology and intention of the project they are working on. The document tells prospective investors how the project was conceived and highlights its purpose.