One name, two industries, both of them wealthy. In digital advertising, ad network is standing vocabulary and the sector forms new intermediaries constantly: representation firms, publisher collectives, vertical networks, and marketplaces connecting advertisers with niche inventory. An address stating the business model in one glance is worth having in a field where explaining what you do takes a meeting. In networking hardware and software, ADC means application delivery controller, a real enterprise category sold through long cycles to technical buyers.

Newsletters, podcasts and niche sites are collectively enormous and individually too small to sell efficiently on their own. Connecting them to advertisers is the most interesting business this name supports. Media buying and selling runs through marketplaces at every level: programmatic exchanges, direct inventory deals, sponsorship networks, and the fast-growing market for creator placements. The name also suits an ad exchange, a rights and licensing exchange, or an inventory platform.