The terms real-time advertising, real-time bidding, and programmatic buying are often confused with one another. And while these different processes are very similar, there are some important differences between them.
Programmatic buying is the general term for any sort of ‘systematic purchase’ of web advertising space. Although this process is automated, marketers are still able to use the system to further specify targets. Real-time advertising is the first subarea within this hierarchy and describes an automated system in which different ad components communicate with one another. Information, offers, and bids are exchanged here simultaneously.
Real-time bidding, on the other hand, is a discipline of RTA. Also operating in real time, the critical factor here that makes RTB different from the other forms lies in the cooperation between purchase and sale: with RTB, a classic auction situation is at hand whereby multiple buyers bid for advertisements in real time.