{"id":20239,"date":"2020-01-29T15:51:36","date_gmt":"2020-01-29T15:51:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/glosario-digital\/programmatic-buying"},"modified":"2026-06-26T13:37:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T13:37:37","slug":"programmatic-buying","status":"publish","type":"encyclopedia","link":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/programmatic-buying","title":{"rendered":"Programmatic Buying"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-23030 size-full alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/programmatic-buying.jpg\" alt=\"Programmatic Buying\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/programmatic-buying.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/programmatic-buying-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Definition: <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em> <strong>Programmatic buying<\/strong> <\/em>or &#8220;real-time bidding&#8221; refers to the buying and selling of online ad impressions through real-time auctions that occur in the time it takes to load a web page. These auctions are usually facilitated by ad exchanges or bidding platforms.<\/p>\n\n<h2>How programmatic purchasing works<\/h2>\n<p>As ad impressions are loaded into a user&#8217;s web browser, information about the page being viewed and the user is passed to an ad exchange, where the ad is auctioned. The winner loads on the website almost instantly, as the whole process takes only milliseconds to complete.<\/p>\n<p>You can recognize if a user has previously been on a site looking at a specific pair of pants, for example, and therefore you can be prepared to pay more to the page you are interested in to put ads on it.<\/p>\n<h2>Calculation of prices in programmatic purchasing<\/h2>\n<p>The price of impressions is determined in real time based on what buyers are willing to pay, hence the name &#8220;real-time bidding&#8221;.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequently asked questions about Programmatic Buying<\/h2>\n<div class=\"geo-faq-block\">\n<details class=\"geo-faq-item\">\n<summary>What is Programmatic Buying?<\/summary>\n<p>Programmatic Buying is the automated acquisition of digital advertising spaces through platforms, data and bidding rules. It allows impressions to be bought in real time or through private deals according to audience, context, budget and campaign objectives.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"geo-faq-item\">\n<summary>What is Programmatic Buying used for?<\/summary>\n<p>It is used to impact specific audiences with greater efficiency, control frequency, optimize investment and adapt messages according to available data. In digital marketing it helps scale display, video, audio or native campaigns with advanced segmentation and measurement.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"geo-faq-item\">\n<summary>What is the difference between Programmatic Buying and direct buying?<\/summary>\n<p>Direct buying is usually negotiated manually with a media outlet, with agreed prices, placements and conditions. Programmatic Buying automates part of the process and makes it possible to decide impression by impression whether it is worth bidding according to expected value.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"geo-faq-item\">\n<summary>What should a Programmatic Buying campaign take care of?<\/summary>\n<p>It should take care of inventory quality, brand safety, viewability, frequency, segmentation, consent, attribution and exclusions. It is also advisable to review where ads appear and whether optimization pursues useful metrics for the business.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<p><script type=\"application\/ld+json\">\n{\n  \"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\",\n  \"@graph\": [\n    {\n      \"@type\": \"DefinedTerm\",\n      \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/programmatic-buying#definedterm\",\n      \"name\": \"Programmatic Buying\",\n      \"description\": \"Definition of Programmatic Buying in the Arimetrics Digital Glossary.\",\n      \"inDefinedTermSet\": {\n        \"@type\": \"DefinedTermSet\",\n        \"name\": \"Arimetrics Digital Glossary\",\n        \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\"\n      }\n    },\n    {\n      \"@type\": \"FAQPage\",\n      \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/programmatic-buying#faq\",\n      \"mainEntity\": [\n        {\n          \"@type\": \"Question\",\n          \"name\": \"What is Programmatic Buying?\",\n          \"acceptedAnswer\": {\n            \"@type\": \"Answer\",\n            \"text\": \"Programmatic Buying is the automated acquisition of digital advertising spaces through platforms, data and bidding rules. 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These auctions are usually facilitated by ad exchanges or bidding platforms. How programmatic purchasing works As ad impressions are loaded into a user&#8217;s web [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"template":"","encyclopedia-tag":[998],"class_list":["post-20239","encyclopedia","type-encyclopedia","status-publish","hentry","encyclopedia-tag-programmatic-buying"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia\/20239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/encyclopedia"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"encyclopedia-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia-tag?post=20239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}