5 key differences between Ad Serving and Ad Tracking
Neha Shekhawat | July 17, 2020
| Ad Serving | Ad Tracking | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | In Ad Serving the creative is hosted in an ad server and tags are shared with the publisher. | In Ad Tracking the creative is hosted at the publisher end and impression/click trackers are shared with the publisher. |
| 2. | In ad serving verification & viewability data can be provided. | In ad tracking verification & viewability data cannot be provided by an ad server. |
| 3. | Ad serving gives the creative control and flexibility to the advertiser to make changes in the creative as per their requirement/convenience. | In ad tracking the entire creative control is with the publisher and hence there is dependency on publisher for any changes. |
| 4. | In ad serving creative optimization is possible since the creative is hosted at an ad server. | In ad tracking creative optimization is not possible since the publisher has the creative control. |
| 5. | Ad serving can report back complex data matrices and in addition to the above mentioned data points, there are a large number of additional data points that can be provided to the advertiser. | In ad tracking the data points that are reported back are quite less and basic like impression, click and CTR. |