Agencies and tech companies that represent advertisers in online exchanges face a complicated auction environment on one side and sophisticated clients demanding more data-driven results on the other. This award recognizes outstanding demand-side technology companies that consistently meet the highest standards.

Publishers need technology companies that drive their direct revenue and turn visitors into loyal or more valuable audiences. This category recognizes vendors that excel in helping publishers build stronger and more sustainable businesses.

From industry stalwarts like DMPs to new data management and activation technologies such as customer data platforms, customer identity companies and data consortiums, this award recognizes the leading companies that bring data to bear in programmatic media.

Multitouch attribution or media-mix modeling? Mobile- or web-focused? Offline and cross-channel? This award recognizes the best in campaign measurement and analytics that cut through the noise and deliver meaningful insights.

The human touch still matters, especially as technological complexity increases. The top platforms in this category help their customers resolve issues and succeed with outstanding personalized service.

Ad tech is consolidating, but it's also expanding. This award recognizes the best and most innovative of the new wave of technology firms. Applicants should have been founded less than three years ago.

Whether through thoughtful strategic or “test-and-learn” execution, the industry's most innovative publishers have set a high bar for their use of technology, data, platforms, internal organization and partnerships to position themselves for success. This category recognizes publishers who have found new and creative ways to reach and monetize their audiences.

Whether it’s a new integration or going deeper with an existing technology, leading publishers have found ways to make the tech work for them to boost results. This category recognizes publishers who have built, partnered or bought technology that is driving notable business success or audience growth.

Leading publishers work with clients to educate, share knowledge and create lasting partnerships with mutual benefit. Publishers in this category have effectively partnered with clients to help them make sense of a complex and rapidly changing digital landscape, while offering new and innovative campaign ideas.

Data drives digital results. Publishers in this category used first-, second- and/or third-party data to skillfully generate insights, target campaigns or measure results and optimize in ways that increased effectiveness for their clients.

This award recognizes agencies who have mastered programmatic buying – and not just by pulling levers on platforms. The best agencies have demonstrated programmatic excellence through a deep understanding of the vendor landscape. These agencies also take bespoke approaches to planning, optimizing and measuring programmatic campaigns to move the needle on clients' businesses.

Data has always been the lifeblood of media investments, but with the rise of digital, there's more data today than marketers know what to do with. Agencies nominated for this award show a deft ability to not only leverage data to improve clients' media investments, but to know which pieces of data can make media dollars work harder.

As the ad tech landscape continues to explode, agencies must have a deep understanding of platforms and how to best leverage them for their clients' specific needs. Agencies nominated for this award have either demonstrated exceptional understanding and ability to work with top platforms in the space or built technology in-house to plug gaps in vendor solutions.

Programmatic is confusing. This award recognizes firms that guide clients deftly through a complex landscape and help them determine how to best apply programmatic to achieve their business goals by, for example, better leveraging agency partnerships or taking programmatic in-house.

The digital advertising and marketing industry is in a constant state of flux. This award celebrates the analysts who painstakingly cover the agency and programmatic landscape and help guide marketers, investors and journalists on where the industry is headed.

Call it "in-housing" or "hands on." This award category recognizes advertisers who have built media-buying and advertising capabilities in-house. Winning entries will excel in one or more of these areas: data strategy, technology integration, supply relationships, creativity, measurement and continuous improvement.

Among marketers' most important jobs is evaluating the merit of marketing technologies and deploying solutions to maximum benefit. It's easier said than done. This award recognizes those advertisers that have succeeded, whether it be with scaled platforms or custom setups.

This category recognizes nominees that have identified, targeted and purchased an audience on linear TV or over-the-top. They have also successfully measured the effectiveness of their buy.

Advertisers are increasingly executing and measuring video campaigns across multiple channels. This award showcases the most noteworthy video campaigns executed across channels such as linear TV, video on demand and over-the-top.

As programmatic has matured, marketers have been able to creatively apply the methodology. This category recognizes campaigns that applied programmatic concepts and techniques in unique ways, from their planning to execution, optimization and measurement.

Demand for digital skills is outpacing the supply of available talent. This category recognizes the solutions or processes that cultivate mastery of data-driven marketing, with proven results.

This category draws from all award entries submitted and recognizes excellence in its service and contribution to stakeholders, such as marketers or consumers, and the industry at large. Entries will be judged on how clearly they align a product, service or campaign with proven results, innovation and creativity.

This category recognizes emerging leaders in digital advertising and marketing, with a focus on mid-level professionals under 40 years of age who already have demonstrated a track record of achievement, exceptional growth and huge potential to disrupt the industry.

This category recognizes digital advertising and marketing professionals who typify visionary leadership by effectively guiding their organization or business unit to meet business goals while advancing innovation and inspiring their teams.