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Glossary

A​

Account Type
Classification of MCP session credentials as either "platform" (aggregator) or "customer" (direct advertiser/agency).

Activation
The process of making an audience available for targeting on a specific platform and seat.

Ad Context Protocol (ACP)
An open standard based on Model Context Protocol (MCP) that enables AI-powered advertising workflows.

Audience Discovery
The process of finding relevant marketing audiences using natural language descriptions.

Audience ID
A unique identifier for an audience within a provider's catalog.

Audience Type
Classification of audiences as "marketplace" (third-party), "owned" (first-party), or "destination" (bundled with media).

C​

CPM (Cost Per Mille)
Pricing model based on cost per thousand impressions.

Customer Account
Direct advertiser or agency account with specific seat access and negotiated rates.

D​

Deployment
The availability status of an audience on specific platforms, including activation state and timing.

Devices
Size unit representing unique device identifiers (cookies, mobile IDs) - typically the largest reach metric.

DSP (Demand-Side Platform)
Technology platform that allows advertisers to buy advertising inventory programmatically.

E​

Estimated Activation Time
Predicted timeframe for audience deployment, typically 24-48 hours for new activations.

H​

Households
Size unit representing unique household addresses, useful for geographic and family-based targeting.

I​

Individuals
Size unit representing unique people, best for frequency capping and demographic targeting.

Inventory
Available advertising space on websites, apps, or other media properties.

M​

MCP (Model Context Protocol)
The underlying protocol framework that enables AI assistants to interact with external systems.

Marketplace Audience
Third-party audience available for licensing from data providers.

N​

Natural Language Processing
The AI capability that allows audience discovery through conversational descriptions rather than technical parameters.

O​

Owned Audience
First-party audience data belonging to the advertiser or platform.

P​

Platform Account
Master account representing an advertising platform that can syndicate audiences to multiple customers.

Prompt
Natural language description used to discover relevant audiences (e.g., "high-income sports enthusiasts").

Provider
The company or platform that supplies audience data (e.g., LiveRamp, Experian).

R​

Relevance Score
Numerical rating (0-1) indicating how well an audience matches the discovery prompt.

Relevance Rationale
Human-readable explanation of why an audience received its relevance score.

Revenue Share
Pricing model based on a percentage of media spend rather than fixed CPM.

S​

Seat
A specific advertising account within a platform, typically representing a brand or campaign.

Segment ID
The specific identifier used for audience activation, may differ from audience_id.

Size Unit
The measurement type for audience size: individuals, devices, or households.

T​

Third-Party Audience
Audience data licensed from external providers, also known as marketplace audiences.

U​

Usage Reporting
Daily reporting of audience utilization for billing and optimization purposes.

Acronyms​

  • ACP: Ad Context Protocol
  • API: Application Programming Interface
  • CPM: Cost Per Mille (thousand)
  • DSP: Demand-Side Platform
  • DMP: Data Management Platform
  • MCP: Model Context Protocol
  • PII: Personally Identifiable Information
  • RTB: Real-Time Bidding
  • SSP: Supply-Side Platform
  • TTD: The Trade Desk
  • UTC: Coordinated Universal Time

Units and Measurements​

Time Formats

  • All timestamps use ISO 8601 format (e.g., "2025-01-20T14:30:00Z")
  • Dates use YYYY-MM-DD format
  • Activation times expressed as human-readable estimates ("24-48 hours")

Currency

  • All pricing in specified currency (typically USD)
  • CPM expressed as cost per 1,000 impressions
  • Revenue share expressed as decimal (0.15 = 15%)

Size Reporting

  • Counts expressed as integers
  • Units clearly specified (individuals/devices/households)
  • Dated with "as_of" timestamp for freshness

Error Codes Reference​

Common error codes across all ACP implementations:

  • SEGMENT_NOT_FOUND: Invalid or expired segment ID
  • ACTIVATION_FAILED: Unable to complete activation process
  • ALREADY_ACTIVATED: Audience already active for platform/seat
  • DEPLOYMENT_UNAUTHORIZED: Insufficient permissions for platform/seat
  • INVALID_PRICING_MODEL: Requested pricing model unavailable
  • RATE_LIMIT_EXCEEDED: Too many requests in time window
  • AUTHENTICATION_FAILED: Invalid or expired credentials
  • VALIDATION_ERROR: Request format or parameter errors