Glossary/Adtech & Programmatic/Discrepancy
Adtech & Programmatic
Discrepancy
The difference between impression, click, or spend counts reported by two systems, such as a publisher's and an advertiser's ad server.
By Brandon Mina·CEO, BrandPilot AI·Updated November 2026
Short answer
A discrepancy is the difference between impression, click, or spend counts reported by two systems, such as a publisher's ad server and an advertiser's ad server. Differences arise from timing, counting methods, latency, ad blocking, and filtering of invalid traffic. Contracts often specify an acceptable discrepancy threshold and which system's numbers govern billing.