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Glossary of Terms

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General Glossary
Advertiser The company paying for the advertisement.
Agency Agencies are clients of dgm who mange multiple advertisers
Banner The standard type of creative format such as a static image or an animated image (i.e. jpeg or gif files)
BtoB Businesses whose customers are other businesses.
BtoC Businesses whose major customers are consumers.
Clicks
  1. Metric which measures the reaction of a user to an Internet ad. There are three types of clicks: click–throughs; in–unit clicks; and mouseovers;
  2. The opportunity for a user to download another file by clicking on an advertisement, as recorded by the server;
  3. The result of a measurable interaction with an advertisement or key word that links to the advertiser's intended Web site or another page or frame within the Web site;
  4. Metric which measures the reaction of a user to hot–linked editorial content. See also ad click, click–through, in–unit clicks and mouseover.
Conversion The act of converting a web site visitor into a customer or at least taking that visitor a step closer to customer acquisition (such as convincing them to sign up for your e–mail newsletter)
Conversion rate The rate at which visitors get converted to customers or are moved a step closer to customer acquisition.
Cookie Information placed on a visitor's computer by a web server. While the web site is being accessed, data in the visitor's cookie file can be stored or retrieved. Mostly cookies are used as unique identifiers (i.e. user IDs or session IDs) to isolate a visitor's movements from others' during that visit and subsequent visits. Other data that may get stored in a cookie include an order number, email address, referring advertiser, etc.
Cost per action The cost incurred or price paid for a specific action, such as signing up for an email newsletter, entering a contest, registering on the site, completing a survey, downloading trial software, printing a coupon, etc.
Cost per click The cost incurred or price paid for a clickthrough to your landing page.
Cost per thousand The cost incurred or price paid for a thousand impressions
HTML A set of codes called markup tags in a plain text (*.txt) file that determine what information is retrieved and how it is rendered by a browser. There are two kinds of markup tags: anchor and format. Anchor tags determine what is retrieved, and format tags determine how it is rendered.
HTML page A HyperText Markup Language document stored in a directory on a Web server and/or created dynamically at the time of the request for the purpose of satisfying that request. In addition to text, an HTML page may include graphics, video, audio, and other files.
Impression The number of times your search ad is served to users by search engines.
Insertion order Purchase order between a seller of interactive advertising and a buyer (usually an advertiser or its agency).
IP A protocol telling the network how packets are addressed and routed.
IP address Internet protocol numerical address assigned to each computer on the network so that its location and activities can be distinguished from other computers. The format is ##.##.##.## with each number ranging from 0 through 255 (e.g. 125.45.87.204)
Key performance indicators KPIs help organizations achieve organizational goals through the definition and measurement of progress. The key indicators are agreed upon by an organization and are indicators which can be measured that will reflect success factors. The KPIs selected must reflect the organization's goals, they must be key to its success, and they must be measurable. Key performance indicators usually are long–term considerations for an organization
Pay–for–performance A pricing model based on delivering sales or something else that can be directly attributed to the bottom line. Contrast this with traditional banner advertising which is based on impressions, a chunk of which come from people you have no desire or ability to do business with.
Pay per click A pay–for–performance pricing model where advertising (such as banners or paid search engine listings) is priced based on number of clickthroughs rather than impressions or other criteria. Overture is an example of a search engine which charges advertisers on a pay–per–click basis.
Page impression A measurement of responses from a Web server to a page request from the user's browser, which is filtered from robotic activity and error codes, and is recorded at a point as close as possible to the opportunity to see the page by the user. See iab.net for ad campaign measurement guidelines.
ROI (return on investment) Net profit divided by investment.
Tag There are different definitions of tags depending on the channel in question.
  1. Sales Tag – dgm code which is added to the advertiser's "action confirmation" page to track actions (sales / signups / clicks)
  2. Heading tag – An HTML tag that is often used to denote a page or section heading on a web page. Search engines pay special attention to text that is marked with a heading tag, as such text is set off from the rest of the page content as being more important.
  3. Meta tags – Meta–information (information about information) that is associated with a web page and placed in the HTML but not displayed on the page for the user to see. There are a range of meta tags, only a few of which are relevant to search engine spiders. Two of the most well–known meta tags are the meta description and meta keywords; unfortunately these are ignored by most major search engines, including Google.
  4. No frames tag – Alternative non–framed HTML on a frameset page for very old, non–frames capable web browsers and search engine spiders. Placing good keyword–rich text in noframes tags is a good idea if your site is framed, but a much better idea is to ditch frames altogether and rebuild the site properly. A framed web site is not search engine friendly as long as it uses noframes tags
  5. Title Tag – The text displayed in the blue bar at the very top of the browser window, above "Back," "Forward," "Refresh," "Print," etc. Although inconspicuous to the user, the title tag is the most important bit of text on a web page as far as the search engines are concerned. Search engines not only assign the words in the title tag more weight, they also typically display the title tag in the search results, making the title tag an important potential call–to–action as well. Thus, the wording of each page's title tag should be thought through carefully. Also see "keyword prominence."
  6. Pixel tag or 'beacon' – A snippet of code placed in an ad, on a Web page, or in an email which helps measure whether the ad, page or email was delivered to the browser and to track actions in general. Also known as a clear GIF or pixel tag.
Target audience The intended audience for an ad, usually defined in terms of specific demographics (age, sex, income, etc.) product purchase behavior, product usage or media usage.
Traffic The amount of users that surf to a site
Unique user Unique individual or browser which has either accessed a site (see unique visitor) or which has been served unique content and/or ads such as e–mail, newsletters, interstitials and pop–under ads. Unique users can be identified by user registration or cookies. Reported unique users should filter out robots. See iab.net for ad campaign measurement guidelines.
Unique visitor A unique user who accesses a Web site within a specific time period. See unique user.
Unique Visitors A count of individual users who have accessed your web site. It should be noted that the "user session" metric does not yield an accurate unique visitor count, as multiple user sessions can be generated by one unique visitor.
URL The unique identifying address of any particular page on the Web. It contains all the information required to locate a resource, including its protocol (usually HTTP), server domain name (or IP address), file path (directory and name) and format (usually HTML or CGI).
User An individual with access to the World Wide Web.
Web site The virtual location (domain) for an organization's or individual's presence on the World Wide Web
XML XML stands for Extensible Markup Language (filename.xml) – a scripting language that allows the programmer to define the properties of the document
Search Glossary
Accessibility The practice of making websites usable by disabled people – especially blind people.

Because search engines are essentially blind (ie they can't see pictures or use Ffash) accessible websites tend to have better search engine rankings than inaccessible websites.
Adsense Google AdSense is a fast and easy way for website publishers of all sizes to display relevant Google ads on their website's content pages and earn money. Because the ads are related to what your visitors are looking for on your site – or matched to the characteristics and interests of the visitors your content attracts – you'll finally have a way to both monetize and enhance your content pages.

It's also a way for website publishers to provide Google web and site search to their visitors, and to earn money by displaying Google ads on the search results pages
AdWords Google's CPC (Cost Per Click) based text advertising. AdWords takes clickthrough rate into consideration in addition to advertiser's bid to determine the ads relative position within the paid search results. Google applies such a weighting factor in order to feature those paid search results that are more popular and thus presumably more relevant and useful. Google has also started taking into account the quality of the landing page and applying a quality score to the landing pages. You can apply for AdWords Select at http://adwords.google.com
Agent name This is the name of the Crawler/spider that is currently visiting a page. Spider is a robot sent out by search engines to catalogue websites on the internet. When a spider indexes a particular website, this is known as 'being spidered'.
Algorithm Operational programming rules that determine how a search engine indexes content and displays the results to its users.
Anchor text This is the actual text part of a link (usually underlined). Used by search engines as an important ranking factor. Google pays particular attention to the text used in a hyperlink and associates the keywords contained in the anchor text to the page being linked to. Also see "Google bombing."
API Abbreviation for Application Program Interface. An API is a set of routines, protocols and tools for building software applications; it determines how a service is invoked through the application
ASP An acronym for Active Server Pages, a Microsoft–invented, proprietary programming language for building dynamic web sites. Also an acronym for Application Service Provider, a hosted service available via the Internet
Automated Submitting Using automated software such as WebPosition Gold or an Application Service Provider (ASP) such as Microsoft b–central's Submit–It service to submit your web pages to the search engines. This tactic is frowned upon by the search engines. Indeed, some search engines such as AltaVista have completely automated submissions by requiring the user to re–key in a one–time use submission code that is displayed on the submission page as a graphic.
Back Links Inbound links pointing to a web page. Also known as backlinks or inlinks
Banned When a search engine blocks your site from appearing in its search results.
Bid managent tool Software or an ASP service used to manage bids on pay–per–click search engines such as Yahoo Search Marketing (formerly Overture) and Google AdWords.
Bidding Placing a bid price that you are willing to pay as an advertiser on a pay–per–click search engine. The highest bid for a given keyword achieves the top spot in the PPC search results. In Overture, the top three bids are "featured" on Overture's partners' sites, including AOL, Altavista, Infospace, and others. The minimum bid amount on Overture is 5 cents per clickthrough.
Blacklist Lists that either search engines or vigilante users compile of search engine spammers, which may be used to ban those spammers from search engines or to boycott them.
Blog Also known as a "weblog". An online diary with entries made on a regular if not daily basis. Some blogs are maintained by an anonymous author who uses a nickname or handle instead of his or her real name.
Body Copy The 'meaty' textual content of a web page. Body copy refers to text visible to users, doesn't include graphical content, navigation, or information hidden in the HTML source code.
Bot Short for robot. See "spider"
Bulk submission services An ASP that submits many URLs to the search engines on your behalf. For example: SubmitWolf. Search engines don't like these. (see "automated submitting")
Cache Copies of web pages stored locally on an Internet user's hard drive or within a search engine's database. A cache is the reason why web pages load so quickly when a user hits the Back button in their web browser, since the page is not being redownloaded off of the Internet. Google is unusual among search engines in that it allows Internet users to view the cached version of web pages in its index. Simply click on the word "Cache" next to the search result of interest and you will be taken to a copy of the page as Googlebot discovered and indexed it.This feature of Google makes it easy to spot cloaking...
Cgi–bin A "virtual" directory contained in URLs indicates a CGI (Common Gateway Interface) script is in use. A sure tip–off to the spider that your page is dynamic.
Clickthrough rate The rate at which people click on a link such as a search engine listing or a banner ad. Studies show that clickthrough rates are six times higher for search engine listings than banner ads.
Cloaking Serving different content to search engine spiders than to human visitors. Cloaking is basically a "bait and switch" tactic, where the web server feeds visiting spiders content that is keyword–rich, thus fooling the search engine into placing that page higher in the search results. Yet when the visitor clicks on the link they are given different content, which may be totally unrelated. Search engines frown upon this practice and some will penalize or ban sites that they catch doing it.
Cold fusion A web scripting language with limited capabilities, mostly centered around database access. ColdFusion program files are saved on the web server with a .CFM file extension.
Conversion The act of converting a web site visitor into a customer or at least taking that visitor a step closer to customer acquisition (such as convincing them to sign up for your e–mail newsletter)
Conversion rate The rate at which visitors get converted to customers or are moved a step closer to customer acquisition.
Cookie Information placed on a visitor's computer by a web server. While the web site is being accessed, data in the visitor's cookie file can be stored or retrieved. Mostly cookies are used as unique identifiers (i.e. user IDs or session IDs) to isolate a visitor's movements from others' during that visit and subsequent visits. Other data that may get stored in a cookie include an order number, email address, referring advertiser, etc.
Cost per action The cost incurred or price paid for a specific action, such as signing up for an email newsletter, entering a contest, registering on the site, completing a survey, downloading trial software, printing a coupon, etc.
Cost per click The cost incurred or price paid for a clickthrough to your landing page.
Cost per thousand The cost incurred or price paid for a thousand impressions
Counter A simple program which tracks the total number of webpage impressions.
Crawler See "spider"
CSS Cascading Style Sheet – used to control the design of website
Custom error page You can customize the content and the look–and–feel of the default page that is displayed on your web server when a 404 File Not Found error occurs. A good 404 error page has a friendly message explaining that the page they requested doesn't exist at the location, a site map to encourage the user to continue exploring the site, a search box so the user can conduct a search, and a look–and–feel that matches the rest of the site, including navigation of course. Creating a custom 404 error page not only helps keep visitors in your site, it is also an important part of the search engine optimization process. Inevitably pages on your site will get moved and removed over time. When a search engine spider returns to your site to reindex those now non–existent pages, they will have a set of links to explore in the form of the site map on the custom 404 page. You can test for whether a site has a custom 404 error page by trying to access a web page with a nonsense filename after the domain name in the web site address. For example: www.yourcompany.com/blah
Database driven As in "database–driven web site." Means that the website is connected to a database and web page content is based in part on information extracted from those databases.
Database generated As in "database–generated web page." Means that a web page is created dynamically 'on–the–fly' from a database, in contrast with a static HTML page.
Deep submitting Submitting URLs of pages deep in your site to the search engines. For example, if a webmaster of 200–page website submits each of those 200 pages. This tactic is frowned upon by some search engines because it unnecessarily clogs up their submission database when the search engine spider could find those pages on its own by exploring links starting at the home page.
Directory Human editors group websites into categories and provide site descriptions or edit descriptions that are submitted to them. With a directory, picking the right category and composing a description rich in key phrases will ensure maximum visibility. Contrast this with a search engine, which is unedited and concerned primarily with the HTML of a site's constituent pages.
Doorway page A doorway page is a web page full of keyword–rich copy that doesn't deliver any useful information on it other than a link into the site, and whose sole purpose is to be fed to the search engines.
Dynamic Generated 'on–the–fly' from a database. Also see "database–driven."
Error A web page stating an error message such as "File Not Found"
Findability How easily found your site is using search engines.
Flash A technology developed by MacroMedia Corp. that allows a web designer to embed interactive multimedia into web pages. Often used for Flash intros, games, and animating navigation. If you visit a web page and see letters and numbers flying around with a fun
Flash intro An animated 'short' created using Flash that Internet users are made to sit through upon entry to a home page. Flash intros annoy users. They also typically take the place of text content on a home page, and since search engines can't 'read' content embedded in Flash, the rankings of a home page that's just a Flash intro will suffer.
Forums A virtual community. Also known as discussion forums. Used by search engine optimizers and webmasters for information exchange. Users can post messages in different forums, either to the group at large or to certain users. However, all postings can be seen by anyone else who has access to that forum, so save sensitive materials for private email. Forums are also threaded, which means a reply to a particular posting becomes part of the "thread" of that posting that can be followed to provide a cohesive progression through a particular topic.
Frames When separate web pages are combined into one, each potentially with its own scrollbar. You know you're on a framed website when part of the page scrolls while the rest of the page stays in place. Frames frustrate people because much of the time when the person tries to bookmark a specific page, it doesn't actually work but instead bookmarks the "frameset" page which is typically the home page. Search engines don't like frames. A framed web site is at a severe disadvantage compared to non–framed sites in terms of search engine marketing. Most search engines support frames, but only, as Google says in its FAQ section, "to the extent that [we] can." Searchers clicking through to a framed page from search results sometimes end up on an orphaned page. You can use <noframes> in HTML to make the page indexed normally by the crawler.
Frameset A web page that is made up of frames. A useful analogy: if the individual frames that make up the frameset are the 'children,' then the frameset is the 'parent.'
Fresh The term that Google uses to refer to frequently changing home pages. When Googlebot ascertains that a given home page is changing frequently, Googlebot will revisit and reindex this page daily.
Google adsense Paid ads webmasters may place on their websites
Google bombing When a group of sites such as blogs join forces to link to an unflattering page about a company such that this page rises to the top of the search results in Google. Google bombing takes advantage of the power of hyperlink text and of PageRank. For example, if a group of sites with high PageRank all link to a page about XYZ Company's inappropriate behavior with hyperlink text of "XYZ Company sucks" then the linked page can shoot to the top of Google's search results for the term "XYZ Company."
Google XML sitemap A service/method offered by Google to expedite and ensure indexing of sites with lots of pages
Googlebot A Googlebot is a search bot used by Google. It collects documents from the web to build a searchable index for the Google search engine.

If a webmaster wishes to restrict the information on their site available to a Googlebot, or other well–behaved spider, they can do so by with the appropriate directives in a robots.txt file.
Googleware The assortment of tools produced by google that can be used to search, report, play, research

Includes (but is not limited to):
Blogsearch
Google Analytics
Adwords
Adsense
Google Video
Google Scholar
Google News
Google search
Froogle
Google Maps
Google Images
Google Earth
Hallway page A page that serves as an index to a group of pages that you would like the search engine spiders to find. Once a search engine spider indexes the hallway page, it should also follow all the links on that hallway page and in turn index those pages as well.
Heading tag An HTML tag that is often used to denote a page or section heading on a web page. Search engines pay special attention to text that is marked with a heading tag, as such text is set off from the rest of the page content as being more important.
Hidden keywords Keywords that are placed in the HTML source in such a way that these words are not viewable by human visitors looking at the rendered web page.
Hits A download of a file from a web server. Hits do not correlate with web page visits. Every graphic on a web page counts as a hit. Thus, a single access of a web page with 20 unique graphics on it register as 21 hits – 20 for the graphics and 1 for the HTML page. Web metrics guru Jim Sterne says hits "stand for How Idiots Track Success." People who talk in terms of hits are usually either ignorant or are trying to snow their boss into thinking the website is doing better than it really is.
HTML Stands for HyperText Markup Language. The programming language used to mark up web content and display it in a formatted manner. It's up to the web browser software, e.g. Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape, to render HTML source
HTML source The raw, unrendered programming code. It can be accessed in Internet Explorer by going to the "View" menu then selecting "Source".
Hyperlinks See "links"
Impression The number of times your search ad is served to users by search engines.
Inbound links Links that point to your site from sites other than your own. Inbound links are an important asset that will improve your site's PageRank
Index A search engine's database in which it stores textual content from every web page that its spider visits.
Inlinks A synonym for back links. Popularized by Yahoo!
Invisible web A term that refers to the vast amount of information on the web that is not indexed by the search engines. Coined in 1994 by Dr. Jill Ellsworth.
Java Applets Small programs written in the Java programming language that can be embedded into web pages. Applet programs run on the Internet user's computer rather than the web server's computer. Search engines can not run Java applets. Consequently, if navigation or content is embedded in a Java applet, it will be invisible to the search engines and will not get indexed. Java source code gets compiled into executable code called "bytecode."
Java Scripts Programs written in the JavaScript programming language. JavaScripts run on the Internet user's computer rather than the web server's computer. Search engines can not run JavaScripts
Key phrase A search phrase made up of keywords. See "keyword.
Keyword A word that a search engine user might use to find relevant web page(s). If a keyword doesn't appear anywhere in the text of your web page, it's highly unlikely your page will appear in the search results (unless of course you have bid on that keyword in a pay–per–click search engine).
Keyword density The number of occurrences that a given keyword appears on a web page. The more times that a given word appears on your page (within reason), the more weight that word is assigned by the search engine when that word matches a keyword search done by a search
Keyword popularity The number of occurrences of searches done by Internet users of a given keyword during a period of time. Both WordTracker.com and Overture's Keyword Selector Tool (http://inventory.overture.com) provide keyword popularity numbers.
Keyword prominence The location (i.e. placement) of a given keyword in the HTML source code of a web page. The higher up in the page a particular word is, the more prominent it is and thus the more weight that word is assigned by the search engine when that word matches a keyword search done by a search engine user. Consequently, it's best to have your first paragraph be chock full of important keywords rather than superfluous marketingspeak. This concept also applies to the location of important keywords within individual HTML tags, such as heading tags, title tags, or hyperlink text. So get in the habit of starting off your title tags with a good keyword rather than "Welcome to."
Keyword Research Determining the words and phrases that people use to find something, then compiling them into a list for use on web pages, etc.
Keyword stuffing Placing excessive amounts of keywords into the page copy and the HTML in such a way that it detracts from the readability and usability of a given page for the purpose of boosting the page's rankings in the search engines. This includes hiding keywords on the page by making the text the same color as the background, hiding keywords in comment tags, overfilling alt tags with long strings of keywords, etc. Keyword stuffing is just another shady way of gaming the search engines and, as such, its use should be strongly discouraged.
Keyword–rich When a given page or bit of text is full of good keywords rather than a bunch of meaningless words (e.g. "welcome", "click here") or irrelevant words (e.g. "solution").
Landing page The web page that a visitor clicks through to from the search results.
Link bait Useful or entertaining web content which compels users to link to it.
Link building Requesting links from webmasters of other sites for the purpose of increasing your "link popularity" and/or "PageRank."

Considerations for link building can include directory submissions and press release syndication.
Link popularity When other web sites link to your site, your site will rank better in certain search engines. The more web pages that link to you, the better your link popularity.
Links Text or graphics that, when clicked on, take the Internet user to another web page location. Links are expressed as URLs.
Log File All accesses to a web site can be logged by the web server. Data that is usually logged includes date and time, filename accessed, user's IP address, referring web page, user's browser software and version, and cookie data.
Machine generated Don't use software tools that purport to auto–generate doorway pages. These pages are usually devoid of meaningful content. Google, in particular, is working on ways to identify and exclude machine–generated doorway pages.
Manual submitting Submitting by hand to an individual search engine, rather than using an automated submission tool or service. Manual submitting is the more polite way to submit, and as such is less likely to land you in trouble with the search engines. But the best approach is not to submit at all and let the search engine spiders find your site through links from other sites to your site.
Meta description A meta tag hidden in the HTML that describes the page's content. Should be relatively short; around 12 to 20 words is suggested. The meta description provides an opportunity to influence how your Web page is described in the search results, but it will not improve your search rankings. Make sure your meta description reflects the page content or you may be accused of spamming.
Meta keywords A meta tag hidden in the HTML that lists keywords relevant to the page's content. Because search engine spammers have abused this tag so much, this tag provides little to no benefit to your search rankings. Of the major search engines, only Yahoo! still pays any attention to the meta keywords tag
Meta Search Search results derived from several sources and consolidated into a single
Meta Tags Meta–information (information about information) that is associated with a web page and placed in the HTML but not displayed on the page for the user to see. There are a range of meta tags, only a few of which are relevant to search engine spiders. Two of the most well–known meta tags are the meta description and meta keywords; unfortunately these are ignored by most major search engines, including Google.
Meta Tags Meta–information (information about information) that is associated with a web page and placed in the HTML but not displayed on the page for the user to see. There are a range of meta tags, only a few of which are relevant to search engine spiders. Two of the most well–known meta tags are the meta description and meta keywords; unfortunately these are ignored by most major search engines, including Google.
Mirror See "replica"
Mouseover Where hovering the mouse over a text or graphic link without clicking displays something new on the page. For example, a horizontal navigation bar may display further sub–section choices underneath the section hovered over
MSN Can refer to Microsoft Network and their search engine
Navigation bar A web site's navigation icons, usually arranged in a row down the left hand side or along the top that plays a crucial role in getting site visitors to view more than just the home page
Negative SEO The act of demoting a page or site from the SERPS. Most often used against a competitor that is above your site in the SERPS but can be used purely for fun.
Noframes tag Alternative non–framed HTML on a frameset page for very old, non–frames capable web browsers and search engine spiders. Placing good keyword–rich text in noframes tags is a good idea if your site is framed, but a much better idea is to ditch frames altogether and rebuild the site properly. A framed web site is not search engine friendly as long as it uses noframes tags
On theme Refers to content specific to a particular topic
Outbound links Links that direct "off–site" to another website
Page title See "title tag".
Pagejacking Stealing high–ranking web page content from another site and placing it on your site in the hope of increasing your own site's search engine rankings. Pagejacking is yet another shady way of gaming the search engines and, as such, its use should be strongly discouraged
Page rank Google uses a weighted form of link popularity called PageRank˘â. Not all links are created equal. Google differentiates a link from an important site (such as CNN.com) as being better than a link from Jim–Bob's personal home page. The Google Toolbar (which is a free download from http://toolbar.google.com) has a PageRank meter built into it, to see which web pages are considered important by Google and which aren't. PageRank scoring ranges from 0 to 10, 10 being the best. PageRank scores get exponentially harder to achieve the closer to 10 they are. For example, increasing your own homepage's PageRank from a 2 to 3 is easy with not a lot of additional links, jumping from a 7 to an 8 is very difficult to achieve. The higher the PageRank of the page that's linking to you, the more your site's PageRank will benefit. The better your PageRank, the better you'll do in Google, all else being equal.
Pageviews See "Impression"
Paid inclusion Paying a search engine to have your web pages included in that search engine's index.
Paid placement Paying a search engine to have your listing show up prominently. These listings are usually denoted as "sponsored listings."
Paid placement Paying a search engine to have your listing show up prominently. These listings are usually denoted as "sponsored listings."
Pay-for-performance A pricing model based on delivering sales or something else that can be directly attributed to the bottom line. Contrast this with traditional banner advertising which is based on impressions, a chunk of which come from people you have no desire or ability to do business with.
Pay per click A pay-for-performance pricing model where advertising (such as banners or paid search engine listings) is priced based on number of clickthroughs rather than impressions or other criteria. Overture is an example of a search engine which charges advertisers on a pay-per-click basis.
PDF Adobe's Portable Document Format, a file format that renders the page exactly as intended regardless of the computer used. Typically used for creating documents that will be printed. PDF is used instead of HTML when the content creator wants absolute control over the display of the document. In contrast, the display of an HTML document depends on the computer and web browser software used.
PHP An "open source" programming language for building dynamic web sites. PHP can be used to write server-side programs that access databases. PHP is the most popular web programming language - more popular than Microsoft's ASP (Active Server Pages), JSP (Java Server Pages), and Macromedia's Cold Fusion. PHP is especially well-suited for Web development and can be embedded into HTML. PHP is secure, easy to learn, efficient, fast to code and fast to deploy. PHP is being used by over nine million web sites (over 24% of the sites on the Internet), due largely to benefits such as quicker response time, improved security, and transparency to the end user.
Pull down list On a web form, where the user chooses from a list of items. For example, if you are asked to identify which country you are from, this will typically be done using a pull-down list. A pull-down list is usually displayed with the first item within a box and a down arrow immediately to the right. Clicking on the down arrow will display the full list to choose from. Search engine spiders can't fill out forms or pull down on lists, so content that is only accessible through pull-down lists will not be indexed and will be part of the "Invisible Web."
Query A keyword, or phrase inquiry entered into a search engine.
Reciprocal linking The practice of trading links between websites.
Redirect Where the Internet user is automatically taken to another web page address without him/her clicking on anything. Redirects are generally not good for search engine rankings, as they dilute PageRank. There is also the risk that the search engine spider will not follow your redirect.
Redirect Where the Internet user is automatically taken to another web page address without him/her clicking on anything. Redirects are generally not good for search engine rankings, as they dilute PageRank. There is also the risk that the search engine spider will not follow your redirect.
Referrer A web page, containing a link to your web page that delivered your visitor to your web page.
Relevance The likelihood that a given web page will be of interest or useful to a search engine user for a keyword search.
Render Format and stylize HTML source code into the final format for the visitor's screen. For example, text within "<"b> tags will be made bold.
Replica A copy of a dynamic web site or a group of web pages from a dynamic site, saved as static HTML files.
Resubmitting Submitting your web page address(es) to search engines after you've already submitted those addresses previously or after the search engine has already included your site in its index. Search engines don't like it when you resubmit as it simply clutters their queue with duplicate requests.
Results Can refer to SERPs
Rewrite As in "URL rewriting"
Robot see "spider"
Robot.txt Text file placed in a websites root directory and linked in the html code.

Allows for SEO's to control the actions of search engine spiders on the site or even deny them access.
Search engine A web site that offers its visitors the ability to search the content of numerous web pages on the Internet. Search engines periodically explore all the pages of a website and add the text on those pages into a large database that users can then search. With a search engine, publishing web pages that incorporate relevant key phrases, prominently positioned in particular ways, is critical. Contrast this with directories, which don't siphon content out of the HTML of a site's constituent pages, but instead are comprised solely of site names and descriptions written or edited by human reviewers.
Search engine Marketing (SEM) Strategies and tactics undertaken to increase the amount and quality of leads generated by the search engines.
Search Engine Optimsation (SEO) Strategies and tactics undertaken to influence the rankings of web pages in the search engines.
Search engine results page (SERP) A page of search results delivered by a search engine.
Search term A keyword, or phrase used to conduct a search engine query
Search term popularity See "keyword popularity"
Select list See "pull-down list"
SEM Acronym for Search Engine Marketing
SEO Acronym for "search engine optimization" and/or "search engine optimizer
SERP An acronym for Search Engine Results Page
SERPs Plural for SERP (search engine results pages)
Session See "user session"
Sniffer script A small program or script that detects which web browser software an Internet user is using and then serves up the particular browser-specific cascading style sheet to match. Sniffer scripts are also used to detect whether a user has the Macromedia Flash plug-in installed, and if so, a Flash version of the page is displayed.
Spamglish Keyword-rich gibberish used as search engine fodder instead of thoughtfully written, interesting content. Spamglish often includes meaningless sentences and keyword repetition.
Spamming As in "spamming the search engines". Spamming is most commonly associated with the act of sending unsolicited commercial email, but in the context of search engine optimization, spamming refers to using disreputable tactics to achieve high search engine rankings. Such spamming tactics include bulk submitting spamglish-containing doorway pages.
Spider Also known as a bot, robot, or crawler. Spiders are programs used by a search engine to explore the World Wide Web in an automated manner and download the HTML content (not including graphics) from web sites, strip out whatever it considers superfluous and redundant out of the HTML, and store the rest in a database (i.e. its index).

Web crawlers are mainly used to create a copy of all the visited pages for later processing by a search engine, that will index the downloaded pages to provide fast searches. Crawlers can also be used for automating maintenance tasks on a web site, such as checking links or validating HTML code. Also, crawlers can be used to gather specific types of information from Web pages, such as harvesting e-mail addresses (usually for spam).

A web crawler is one type of bot, or software agent. In general, it starts with a list of URLs to visit. As it visits these URLs, it identifies all the hyperlinks in the page and adds them to the list of URLs to visit, recursively browsing the Web according to a set of policies.

A spider is a robot sent out by search engines to catalog websites on the internet. When a spider indexes a particular website, this is known as 'being spidered'.
Spider Trap An infinite loop that a spider may get caught in if it explores a dynamic site where the URLs of pages keep changing. For example, a home page may have a different URL and the search engine may not be able to ascertain that it is the home page that it has already indexed but under another URL. If search engines were to completely index dynamic web sites, they would inevitably have large amounts of redundant content and download millions of pages.
Splash Page A home page that is, for the most part, devoid of content. Often times created in Flash. Splash pages usually say something to the effect of "Enter Here" or "Choose our Flash-enabled site or the HTML version". Splash pages are an annoyance to Internet users as they introduce an extra hoop that the user has to jump through before they get to any meaningful content. Splash pages are also damaging to search engine rankings. Consider that your home page is typically considered by search engines as the most important page of your site. If your home page is a content-less splash page, then it's a wasted opportunity
Standards compliant Sites that use valid XHTML and CSS, separate the content layer from the presentation layer. Because standards compliant sites are accessible and usable to both humans and spiders alike, they tend to rank better in search engines than non-compliant sites.
Static As in "static web page." Means that the web page was not created dynamically from a database, but instead previously created and saved as a HTML file.
Stemming Search engines such as Google use a process called stemming to deliver results based on a word's root spelling.

An example would be similar search results returned for clothes as for the word clothing
Stop character Search engines such as Google use a process called stemming to deliver results based on a word's root spelling.

Certain characters, such as ampersand (&), equals sign (=), and question mark (?), when in a web page's URL, tip off a search engine that the page in question is dynamic. Search engines are cautious of indexing dynamic pages for fear of spider traps, thus pages that contain stop characters in their URL run the risk of not getting indexed and becoming part of the "Invisible Web." Google won't crawl more than one dynamic level deep. So dynamic pages with stop characters in its URL should get indexed if a static page links to it. Eliminating stop characters from all URLs on your site will go a long way in ensuring that your entire site gets indexed by Google
Stop word Certain words, such as "the," "a", "an," "of," and "with," are so common and meaningless that a search engine won't bother including them in their index, or database, of web page content. So in effect, the stop words on your web pages are ignored as if those words weren't on your pages in the first place. Including a lot of stop words in your title tag waters down the title tag's keyword density.
Streaming media Audio-visual content that is played as it is being downloaded. Thus, an Internet user could begin watching a video clip as the footage downloads rather than having to wait for the clip to download in its entirety beforehand
Submitting Submitting a web page address to a search engine in the hopes that it will index it. Submitting your pages using an automated tool (see "automated submitting"), submitting multiple pages of the same web site (see "deep submitting"), or submitting multiple times (see "resubmitting"), particularly if those pages are already indexed, are techniques typically frowned upon by search engines. It is suspected that some search engines apply a penalty factor to pages that were submitted versus those that the search engine spiders found on their own. Indeed, Inktomi was engaging in this practice before they discontinued accepting free submissions altogether.
Supplemental pages Pages which are indexed in Google but do not exist at this time. But during searching for a particular thing they are shown in the search result pages. These pages provides additional information about the particular search
Theme The main keyword focus of a web page
Title Tag The text displayed in the blue bar at the very top of the browser window, above "Back," "Forward," "Refresh," "Print," etc. Although inconspicuous to the user, the title tag is the most important bit of text on a web page as far as the search engines are concerned. Search engines not only assign the words in the title tag more weight, they also typically display the title tag in the search results, making the title tag an important potential call-to-action as well. Thus, the wording of each page's title tag should be thought through carefully. Also see "keyword prominence."
Traffic The amount of users that surf to a site
Unique Visitors A count of individual users who have accessed your web site. It should be noted that the "user session" metric does not yield an accurate unique visitor count, as multiple user sessions can be generated by one unique visitor.
URL Used interchangeably with web address. Acronym stands for Uniform Resource Locator. URLs can specify the location of a web page, an email address, or a file on an FTP server, among other things.
User agent The name of the browser/spider that is currently visiting a page. For example, "Googlebot/2.1 (+http://www.google.com/bot.html)"
User session An instance of an Internet user accessing your web site for a length of time, then leaving. During a user session any number of pages may be accessed. A user session is considered finished once an arbitrarily chosen period of inactivity - typically 30 minutes - is exceeded
Visibility How well-placed your web site is in the search engines for relevant keyword searches. Also see "Invisible Web."
Visit See "user session"
Web browser Software installed on the Internet user's computer that allows him or her to view web pages. Popular web browsers include Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and Opera.
Web browser Software installed on the Internet user's computer that allows him or her to view web pages. Popular web browsers include Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and Opera.
Affiliate Glossary
Approval required (campaign) Advertiser campaigns which allow the advertiser to accept or reject each publisher subscription
Assign (creative) A creative is assigned to a content unit
Awaiting Approval Once a publisher has subscribed to an approval required campaign, the subscription will remain in the awaiting approval state until the advertiser has processed the subscription
Banner Sales Sales made as a result of the user clicking on a banner
Bonus (Credit) Commission payment made to publishers that is not related to a specific sale. For example a bonus payment can be made wheen a publisher acheives a certain level of sales in a given month.
Campaign (Program) A group of creative set up by an advertiser.
Campaign Cap A limit set on the amount of impressions / clicks / actions for a certain time period
Campaign Description A description of the advertiser / campaign which is shown to publishers when signing up to campaigns
Commission rate An advertiser-defined commission rate which can be then be associated with all / a group of publishers
Content Unit A unit which contains creative elements. A content unit can contain up to 100 creative elements
Cookie Length This is the length of time that a cookie will remain active (still possible to generate commission) on a users machine.
CPA (CPS (Cost Per Sale)) Cost Per Action is the cost associated with an action (sales / signups / clicks) that has been tracked. The cost can be either a fixed amount or a percentage based on the item or service's price.
Creative (Banners, Images, Ads, Adverts) A creative element is a collective term for all the different types of creative (standard banners, flash, text links, html banners) made available to publisher by advertisers
Credit A one off publisher payment from dgm
CTR Click Through Rate measures what percentage of impressions (views of the creative) result in clicks
Day Parting This is a targeting tool which allows a creative to be diplayed only at certain hours of the day.
Deep links Links through to specific pages / products within an advertiser's site rather than the generic homepage
Deleted sale A sale which has been deleted by the advertiser. This may for a number of reasons such as duplication of sales.
Duplicate sale A sale which has been duplicated, usually due to a user refreshing the order confirmation page
Email Subscriptions Various notification emails about new campaigns, suspensions & newsletters., you can opt in or out of these email in your email subscriptions
EPC Earnings Per Click measures the average earnings generated based on the amount of clicks delivered
Flash creative A type of creative format which is made using Macromedia Flash (i.e. swf files)
Flat fee A flat fee commission rate rewards each sale / transaction with a flat fee
Frequency Cap This is a targeting tool which allows a creative to be diplayed to each individual user once in a certain timeframe
Frequency Cap This is a targeting tool which allows a creative to be diplayed to each individual user once in a certain timeframe
HTML creative (HTML banner, XML Banner) A type of creative format in which multiple images & text are contained within an branded html template. This allows the banners or text to be changed while retaining the branded template (i.e. content changes via product feed so details are up to date)
Industry Category Industry sectors used to categorise each advertiser and publisher
Intermediary dgmPro user who cam access multiple publisher accounts
Open ended An open ended campaign has no specific end date
Order Id The order ID is a code which is associated with each sale - this code is sent to dgm by the advertiser via the sales tag
OSC On Site Conversion measures what percentage of people who arrived at the destination site went on to complete an action
Payment history Report which details each payment made to publishers by dgm
Pending sale A sale which has been captured by the tracking system but has not been validated (checked) by the advertiser
Percentage A percentage commission rate rewards each sale / transaction with a percentage of the sale amount
PPC (paid search) Pay Per Click is a form of online marketing which involves bidding on position for certain keywords in the search engines.
Product category Advertisers can set up different product groups to allow categorised reportging or commissions.
Product details If supplied by an advertiser, this information gives the breakdown of items within a sale basket rather than just the basket total
Product feeds A feed of data provided by advertisers which inculdes all their product data (i.e. product name, description, URL, image etc.) This can be used by publishers to create their own links / pages.
Publisher A dgm client who displays creative supplied by dgm advertisers
Publisher group An advertiser-defined group of publishers which can be then be associated with a commision tier or bonus tier
Rich media A type of creative format such as Macromedia Flash & Shockwave. Formats are alwys developing but standard banners (jpeg & gif) are not rich media.
Sale ID The sale ID is a unique code which identifies each sale - this code is created by dgm.
Sales Tag (tracking code) dgm code which is added to the advertiser's "action confirmation" page to track actions (sales / signups / clicks)
Sales URL URL on which the sales tag has been placed
Subscribe A publisher must subscribe to an advertisers campaign so that they can access creative and start earning commission.
Suspended campaign Advertiser campaigns which are not longer live on our network. This may be temporary or premanent.
Targeting tools A set of tools which help target the display of advertiser campaigns for dgmAdNetwork
Text links A type of creative format that is text based. The tracking link usually found on images is used in within some text.
Validated sale A sale which has been captured by the tracking system and has also been validated (checked) by the advertiser
Media Glossary
Ad banner A graphic image or other media object used as an advertisement.
Ad blocker Software on a user's browser which prevents advertisements from being displayed.
Ad campaign audit An activity audit for a specific ad campaign
Ad centric measurement Audience measurement derived from a third-party ad server's own server logs.
Ad click A measurement of the user-initiated action of responding to (such as clicking on) an ad element causing a re-direct to another Web location or another frame or page within the advertisement. There are three types of ad clicks: 1) click-throughs; 2) in-unit clicks; and 3) mouseovers. Ad click-throughs should be tracked and reported as a 302 redirect at the ad server and should filter out robotic activity.
Ad click rate Ratio of ad clicks to ad impressions
Ad display/Ad delivered When an ad is successfully displayed on the user's computer screen.
Ad download When an ad is downloaded by a server to a user's browser. Ads can be requested, but aborted or abandoned before actually being downloaded to the browser, and hence there would be no opportunity to see the ad by the user.
Ad impression
  1. An ad which is served to a user's browser. Ads can be requested by the user's browser (referred to as pulled ads) or they can be pushed, such as e-mailed ads;
  2. A measurement of responses from an ad delivery system to an ad request from the user's browser, which is filtered from robotic activity and is recorded at a point as late as possible in the process of delivery of the creative material to the user's browser -- therefore closest to the actual opportunity to see by the user. Two methods are used to deliver ad content to the user - a) server-initiated and b) client-initiated. Server-initiated ad counting uses the publisher's Web content server for making requests, formatting and re-directing content. Client-initiated ad counting relies on the user's browser to perform these activities. For organizations that use a server-initiated ad counting method, counting should occur subsequent to the ad response at either the publisher's ad server or the Web content server. For organizations using a client-initiated ad counting method, counting should occur at the publisher's ad server or third-party ad server, subsequent to the ad request, or later, in the process. See iab.net for ad campaign measurement guidelines.
Ad impression ratio Click-throughs divided by ad impressions. See click rate
Ad insertion When an ad is inserted in a document and recorded by the ad server.
Ad materials The creative artwork, copy, active URLs and active target sites which are due to the seller prior to the initiation of the ad campaign.
Ad network An aggregator or broker of advertising inventory for many sites. Ad networks are the sales representatives for the Web sites within the network.
Ad recall A measure of advertising effectiveness in which a sample of respondents are exposed to an ad and then at a later point in time are asked if they recall the ad. Ad recall can be on an aided or unaided basis. Aided ad recall is when the respondent is told the name of the brand or category being advertised.
Ad request The request for an advertisement as a direct result of a user's action as recorded by the ad server. Ad requests can come directly from the user's browser or from an intermediate Internet resource, such as a Web content server.
Ad request The request for an advertisement as a direct result of a user's action as recorded by the ad server. Ad requests can come directly from the user's browser or from an intermediate Internet resource, such as a Web content server.
Ad serving The delivery of ads by a server to an end user's computer on which the ads are then displayed by a browser and/or cached. Ad serving is normally performed either by a Web publisher, or by a third-party ad server. Ads can be embedded in the page or served separately.
Ad space The location on a page of a site in which an advertisement can be placed. Each space on a site is uniquely identified. Multiple ad spaces can exist on a single page.
Ad stream The series of ads displayed by the user during a single visit to a site (also impression stream).
Ad transfers The successful display of an advertiser's Web site after the user clicked on an ad. When a user clicks on an advertisement, a click-through is recorded and re-directs or "transfers" the user's browser to an advertiser's Web site. If the user successfully displays the advertiser's Web site, an ad transfer is recorded.
Ad view When the ad is actually seen by the user. Note this is not measurable today. The best approximation today is provided by ad displays.
Ad window Separate from the content window.
Advertiser The company paying for the advertisement.
Advertising revenue Revenue realized from the sale of advertising. See interactive advertising revenue.
Affinity Marketing Selling products or services to customers on the basis of their established buying patterns. The offer can be communicated by e-mail promotions, online or offline advertising.
Alternate text A word or phrase that is displayed when a user has image loading disabled in their browser or when a user abandons a page by hitting "stop" in their browser prior to the transfer of all images. Also appears as ˇ°balloon textˇ± when a user lets their mouse rest over an image.
Animated Advertisement An ad that changes over time. For example, an animated ad is an interactive Java applet or Shockwave or GIF89a file.
Animated Gif An animation created by combining multiple GIF images in one file. The result is multiple images, displayed one after another, that give the appearance of movement.
Anonymizer An intermediary which prevents Web sites from seeing a user's Internet Protocol (IP) address.
Applet A small, self-contained software application that is most often used by browsers to automatically display animation and/or to perform database queries requested by the user.
Applicable browser Any browser an ad will impact, regardless of whether it will play the ad.
Backbone A central network connecting other networks together.
Bandwidth
  1. The transmission rate of a communications line or system, expressed either as cycles per second/hertz for analog lines, or as bits (bps) or kilobits per second (Kbps) for digital systems;
  2. Line speed;
  3. The amount of information that can be transmitted over communications lines at one time.
Bandwidth Competition A bottleneck, however brief, when two or more files are simultaneously transmitted over a single line. Unless the system is able to prioritize among the files, the effect is to slow delivery of each.
Banner A graphic image displayed on an HTML page used as an ad. See iab.net for voluntary guidelines defining specifications of banner ads.
Barter The exchange of goods and services without the use of cash. The value of the barter is the dollar value of the goods and services being exchanged for advertising. This is a recognized form of revenue under GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles).
BtoB Businesses whose customers are other businesses.
BtoC Businesses whose major customers are consumers.
BBS Software that enables users to log into e-mail, usenet and chat groups via modem.
Beacon A snippet of code placed in an ad, on a Web page, or in an email which helps measure whether the ad, page or email was delivered to the browser and to track actions in general. Also known as a clear GIF or pixel tag.
Beta A test version of a product, such as a Web site or software, prior to final release.
Beyond the banner A term referring to any advertisement that is not a banner, e.g. an interstitial, streaming video ads, etc.
Bit The smallest unit of data in a computer. A bit has a single binary value of either 0 or 1. There are eight bits in a byte.
Bit rate A measure of bandwidth which tells you how fast data is traveling from one place to another on a computer network. Bit rate is usually expressed in kilobits (100 bits) per second or Kbps.
Bonus impressions Additional ad impressions above the commitments outlined in the approved insertion order.
Bot Short for robot. See intelligent agent, robot.
Bounce What happens when e-mails are returned to the mail server as undeliverable.
Broadband An Internet connection that delivers a relatively high bit rate - any bit rate at or above 100 Kbps. Cable modems, DSL and ISDN all offer broadband connections.
Browser A software program that can request, download, cache and display documents available on the World Wide Web. Browsers can be either text-based or graphical.
Browser sniffer See sniffer.
Buffering When a streaming media player saves portions of a streaming media file until there is enough information for the stream to begin playing.
Button
  1. Clickable graphic that contains certain functionality, such as taking one someplace or executing a program;
  2. Buttons can also be ads. See iab.net for voluntary guidelines defining specifications of button ads.
Cache Memory used to temporarily store the most frequently requested content/files/pages in order to speed its delivery to the user. Cache can be local (i.e. on a browser) or on a network. In the case of local cache, most computers have both memory (RAM), and disk (hard drive) cache. Today, Web browsers cause virtually all data viewed to be cached on a user's computer.
Cache busting The process by which sites or servers serve content or HTML in such a manner as to minimize or prevent browsers or proxies from serving content from their cache. This forces the user or proxy to fetch a fresh copy for each request. Among other reasons, cache busting is used to provide a more accurate count of the number of requests from users.
Cache ad impressions The delivery of an advertisement to a browser from local cache or a proxy server's cache. When a user requests a page that contains a cached ad, the ad is obtained from the cache and displayed.
Caching The process of copying a Web element (page or ad) for later reuse. On the Web, this copying is normally done in two places: in the user's browser and on proxy servers. When a user makes a request for a Web element, the browser looks into its own cache for the element; then a proxy, if any; followed by the intended server. Caching is done to reduce redundant network traffic, resulting in increased overall efficiency of the Internet.
Channel
  1. A band of similar content;
  2. A type of sales outlet (also known as channel of distribution), for example retail, catalogue, or e-commerce.
Chat Online interactive communication between two or more people on the Web. One can ˇ°talkˇ± in real time with other people in a chat room, but the words are typed instead of spoken.
Chat room An area online where you can chat with other people in real-time.
Click down The action of clicking on an element within an ad and having another file displayed on the user's screen, normally below or above the initial ad. Click down ads allow the user to stay on the same Web page and provide the advertiser a larger pallet to communicate their message.
Click rate Ratio of ad clicks to ad impressions.
Click stream
  1. The electronic path a user takes while navigating from site to site, and from page to page within a site;
  2. A comprehensive body of data describing the sequence of activity between a user's browser and any other Internet resource, such as a Web site or third party ad server.
Clickthrough The action of following a hyperlink within an advertisement or editorial content to another Web site or another page or frame within the Web site. Ad click-throughs should be tracked and reported as a 302 redirect at the ad server and should filter out robotic activity.
Click within Similar to click down or click. But more commonly, click-withins are ads that allow the user to ˇ°drill downˇ± and click, while remaining in the advertisement, not leaving the site on which they are residing.
Client initiated ad impression One of the two methods used for ad counting. Ad content is delivered to the user via two methods - server-initiated and client-initiated. Client-initiated ad counting relies on the user's browser for making requests, formatting and re-directing content. For organizations using a client-initiated ad counting method, counting should occur at the publisher's ad server or third-party ad server, subsequent to the ad request, or later, in the process. See server-initiated ad impression.
Communication error The failure of a Web browser/Web server to successfully request/transfer a document.
Content integration Advertising woven into editorial content or placed in a contextual envelope. Also known as "Web advertorial".
Cookie buster Software that blocks the placement of cookies on a user's browser.
Copy Printed text in an advertisement.
Count Audit See activity audit.
CPA (cost per action) Cost of advertising based on a visitor taking some specifically defined action in response to an ad. "Actions" include such things as a sales transaction, a customer acquisition, or a click.
CPC (cost per click) Cost of advertising based on the number of clicks received.
CPL (cost per lead) Cost of advertising based on the number of database files (leads) received.
CPM (cost per thousand) Media term describing the cost of 1,000 impressions. For example, a Web site that charges $1,500 per ad and reports 100,000 visits has a CPM of $15 ($1,500 divided by 100).
CPO (cost per order) Cost of advertising based on the number of orders received. Also called Cost-per-Transaction
CPS (cost per sale) The advertiser's cost to generate one sales transaction. If this is being used in conjunction with a media buy, a cookie can be offered on the content site and read on the advertiser's site after the successful completion of an online sale.
CPT (cost per transaction) See CPO (Cost-per-Order).
Crawler A software program which visits virtually all pages of the Web to create indexes for search engines. They are more interested in text files than graphic files. See also spider, bot, and intelligent agent.
CRM Customer relationship marketing. Marketing specifically targeted to increasing brand loyalty.
Demographics Common characteristics used for population or audience segmentation, such as age, gender, household income, etc.
Digital signatures Signatures for electronic documents. They establish identity and therefore can be used to establish legal responsibility and the complete authenticity of whatever they are affixed to -- in effect, creating a tamper-proof seal.
Digital video server A robust, dedicated computer at a central location that receives command requests from the television viewer through a video-on-demand application. Once it receives this request, it then instantly broadcasts specific digital video streams to that viewer.
Display Successful download giving the user an opportunity to see.
DHTML An extended set of HTML commands which are used by Web designers to create much greater animation and interactivity than HTML.
Domain name The unique name that identifies an Internet site. Every domain name consists of one top or high-level and one or more lower-level designators. Top-level domains (TLDs) are either generic or geographic. Generic top-level domains include .com (commercial), .net (network), .edu (educational), .org (organizational, public or non-commercial), .gov (governmental), .mil (military); .biz (business), .info (informational),.name (personal), .pro (professional), .aero (air transport and civil aviation), .coop (business cooperatives such as credit unions) and .museum. Geographic domains designate countries of origin, such as .us (United States), .fr (France), .uk (United Kingdom), etc.
Drill down When an online user accesses more and more pages of the Web site, i.e., he or she goes deeper into the content of the site.
DSL A high-speed dedicated digital circuit from a given location to the telephone company's central office, using normal copper telephone lines. DSL provides a separate channel for voice and fax, which means that phone calls and faxes can be carried at the same time high-speed data is flowing across the line. DSL is a general term that includes several variations: ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line), ranging up to 1.5 Mbps; HDSL (High-bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line), 1.5 Mbps; SDSL (Single-line Digital Subscriber Line), 1.5 Mbps; VDSL (Very high-data-rate Digital Subscriber Line), ranging up to 2.3 Mbps; and RDSL (Rate Adaptive Digital Subscriber Line), various speeds.
Dynamic ad placement The process by which an ad is inserted into a page in response to a user's request. Dynamic ad placement allows alteration of specific ads placed on a page based on any data available to the placement program. At its simplest, dynamic ad placement allows for multiple ads to be rotated through one or more spaces. In more sophisticated examples, the ad placement could be affected by demographic data or usage history for the current user.
Dynamic IP address An IP address that changes every time a user logs on to the Internet.
Dynamic rotation Delivery of ads on a rotating, random basis so that users are exposed to different ads and ads are served in different pages of the site.
Ecommerce The process of selling products or services via the Web.
Email Electronic mail. Text files that are sent from one person to another over the Internet.
Email campaign Advertising campaign distributed via e-mail.
Encoding The process of compressing and separating a file into packets so that it can be delivered over a network
Encoder A hardware or software application used to compress audio and video signals for the purpose of streaming.
Encryption The scrambling of digital information so that it is unreadable without the use of digital keys.
Expandable banners A banner ad which can expand to as large as 468 x 240 after a user clicks on it or after a user moves his/her cursor over the banner. See iab.net for the IAB IMU guidelines.
Eyeballs Reference to the number of people who view, or "lay their eyes on," a certain advertisement.
Flash Macromedia's vector-based graphics file format which is used to display interactive animations on a Web page. This form of rich media technology is available via a plug-in.
Floating ads An ad or ads that appear within the main browser window on top of the Web page's normal content, thereby appearing to "float" over the top of the page.
Fold An ad or content that is viewable as soon as the Web page arrives. One does not have to scroll down (or sideways) to see it. Since screen resolution can affect what is immediately viewable, it is good to know whether the Web site's audience tends to set their resolution at 640 x 480 pixels or at 800 x 600 (or higher).
Frame rate The number of frames of video displayed during a given time. The higher the frame rate, the more high-quality the image will be.
Frequency The number of times an ad is delivered to the same browser in a single session or time period. A site can use cookies in order to manage ad frequency.
GIF A graphic format which uses compression to store and display images.
Gif/Animated Gif An extension of the .gif format which creates animation through a sequence of images being stored in a single image. A delay is customizable between ˇ°framesˇ± to render the appearance of animation, much like a flappable picturebook.
Hit When users access a Web site, their computer sends a request to the site's server to begin downloading a page. Each element of a requested page (including graphics, text, interactive items) is recorded by the site's Web server log file as a "hit." If a page containing two graphics is accessed by a user, those hits will be recorded once for the page itself and once for each of the graphics. Webmasters use hits to measure their servers' workload. Because page designs and visit patterns vary from site to site, the number of hits bears no relationship to the number of pages downloaded, and is therefore a poor guide for traffic measurement.
Home page The page designated as the main point of entry of a Web site (or main page) or the starting point when a browser first connects to the Internet. Typically, it welcomes you and introduces the purpose of the site, or the organization sponsoring it, and then provides links to other pages within the site.
Host Any computer on a network that offers services or connectivity to other computers on the network. A host has an IP address associated with it.
Hotlists Pull-down or pop-up menus often displayed on browsers or search engines that contain new or popular sites.
Hot spot see Hyperlink
House ads Ads for a product or service from the same company. ˇ°Revenuesˇ± from house ads should not be included in reported revenues.
HTTP The format most commonly used to transfer documents on the World Wide Web.
Hybrid pricing Pricing model which is based on a combination of a CPM pricing model and a performance-based pricing model. See CPM pricing model and performance-based pricing model.
Hyperlink HTML programming which redirects the user to a new URL when the individual clicks on hypertext
Hypertext Text or graphical elements on a page which activates a hyperlink when clicked.
Iframe A floating frame inserted within a Web page which is not bound to the side of a browser window.
Image map A GIF or JPEG image with more than one linking hyperlink. Each hyperlink or hot spot can lead to a different destination page.
Interactive advertising All forms of online, wireless and interactive television advertising, including banners, sponsorships, e-mail, keyword searches, referrals, slotting fees, classified ads and interactive television commercials.
Internal page impressions Web site activity that is generated by individuals with IP addresses known to be affiliated with the Web site owner. Internal activity that is associated with administration and maintenance of the site should be excluded from the traffic or measurement report.
Interstitial ads Ads that appear between two content pages. Also known as transition ads, intermercial ads, splash pages and Flash pages.
Intranet A worldwide system of computer networks providing reliable and redundant connectivity between disparate computers and systems by using common transport and data protocols.
In-unit click A measurement of a user-initiated action of responding to an ad element which generally causes an intra-site redirect or content change. In-unit clicks are usually tracked via a 302 redirect. Also known as click-downs, click-ups and click-withins. See ad click; 302 redirect.
Inventory The number of ads available for sale on a Web site.
IRC
  1. A facility that allows people to chat in real time. The chats, or forums, are typed remarks, and they can be either public or private;
  2. A protocol that allows users to converse with others in real time. IRC is structured as a network of servers, each of which accepts connections from client programs.
ISP (internet service provider) An organization that provides access to the Internet. An ISP can be a commercial provider, a corporate computer network, a school, college, university, or the government.
Java A programming language designed for building applications on the Internet. It allows for advanced features, increased animation detail and real-time updates. Small applications called Java applets can be downloaded from a server and executed by Java-compatible browsers like Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator.
Jpeg File format that uses a compression technique to reduce the size (number of bytes) of graphic files.
Jump page ad Microsite which is reached via click-through from button or banner ad. The jump page itself can list several topics, which are linked to either the advertiser's site or the publisher's site.
Lag The amount of time between making an online request or command and receiving a response. See latency.
Link An electronic connection between two Web sites. Also called "hot link" and hyperlink.
Log A file that keeps track of network connections.
Log A file that keeps track of network connections.
Log file A file that records transactions that have occurred on the Web server. Some of the types of data which are collected are: date/time stamp, URL served, IP address of requestor, status code of request, user agent string, previous URL of requestor, etc. Use of the extended log file format is preferable.
Login The identification or name used to access a computer, network or site.
Mailing list An automatically distributed e-mail message on a particular topic going to certain individuals.
Media objects Files, other than HTML documents, which can be displayed or executed within HTML documents, or in a stand-alone fashion. Examples currently include GIFs, JPEGs, video, audio, Flash objects (SWF), PDF, Java applets, and other objects which can be viewed through a browser or using a ˇ°plug-inˇ± (see plug-in).
Micro sites Multi-page ads accessed via click-through from initial ad. User stays on the publisher's Web site, but has access to more information from the advertiser than a standard ad format allows.
Mouseover The process by which a user places his/her mouse over a media object, without clicking. The mouse may need to remain still for a specified amount of time to initiate some actions.
On-demand The ability to request video, audio, or information to be sent to the screen immediately by clicking something on the screen referring to that choice.
On-site measurement When a server has an appropriate software program to measure and analyze traffic received on its own site.
Opt in Refers to an individual giving a company permission to use data collected from or about the individual for a particular reason, such as to market the company's products and services. See permission marketing.
Opt in email Lists of Internet users who have voluntarily signed up to receive commercial e-mail about topics of interest.
Opt out When a company states that it plans to market its products and services to an individual unless the individual asks to be removed from the company's mailing list.
Page A document having a specific URL and comprised of a set of associated files. A page may contain text, images, and other online elements. It may be static or dynamically generated. It may be made up of multiple frames or screens, but should contain a designated primary object which, when loaded, is counted as the entire page.
Page display When a page is successfully displayed on the user's computer screen.
Page impression A measurement of responses from a Web server to a page request from the user's browser, which is filtered from robotic activity and error codes, and is recorded at a point as close as possible to the opportunity to see the page by the user.See iab.net for ad campaign measurement guidelines.
Page request The opportunity for an HTML document to appear on a browser window as a direct result of a user's interaction with a Web site.
Page view When the page is actually seen by the user. Note: this is not measurable today; the best approximation today is provided by page displays.
Password A group of letters and/or numbers which allow a unique user access to a secured Web site and/or a secure area of a Web site.
Pay per click An advertising pricing model in which advertisers pay agencies and/or media companies based on how many users clicked on an online ad or e-mail message.
Pay per impression An advertising pricing model in which advertisers pay based on how many users were served their ads. See CPM pricing model.
Pay per lead An advertising pricing model in which advertisers pay for each "sales lead" generated. For example, an advertiser might pay for every visitor that clicked on an ad or site and successfully completed a form. See CPL.
Pay per sale An advertising pricing model in which advertisers pay agencies and/or media companies based on how many sales transactions were generated as a direct result of the ad. See CPS.
Performance pricing model ecpm An advertising model in which advertisers pay based on a set of agreed upon performance criteria, such as a percentage of online revenues or delivery of new sales leads. See CPA, CPC, CPL, CPO, CPS, CPT.
Permission marketing When an individual has given a company permission to market its products and services to the individual. See opt-in.
Persistent cookie A cookie which remains on the user's hard drive until the user erases it.
Pixel Picture element (single illuminated dot) on a computer monitor. The metric used to indicate the size of Internet ads.
Platform The type of computer or operating system on which a software application runs, e.g., PC, Macintosh, Unix or WebTV.
Plug in A program application that can easily be installed and used as part of a Web browser. Once installed, plug-in applications are recognized by the browser and their function integrated into the main HTML file being presented.
Pop under ad Ad that appears in a separate window on top of content already on-screen. Similar to a daughter window, but without an associated banner
Pop up ad Ad that appears in a separate window on top of content already on-screen. Similar to a daughter window, but without an associated banner.
Pop up transitional Initiates play in a separate ad window during the transition between content pages. Continues while content is simultaneously being rendered. Depending primarily on line-speed, play of a transitional ad may finish before or after content rendering is completed.
Portal A Web site that often serves as a starting point for a Web user's session. It typically provides services such as search, directory of Web sites, news, weather, e-mail, homepage space, stock quotes, sports news, entertainment, telephone directory information, area maps, and chat or message boards.
Pre caching Storing advertising or content in a computer's RAM or hard disk memory before it is displayed on the user's screen, rather than at the time that it plays, to reduce delays in rendering. See cache, caching.
Privacy policy a statement about what information is being collected; how the information being collected is being used; how an individual can access his/her own data collected; how the individual can opt-out; and what security measures are being taken by the parties collecting the data.
Privacy seal program A program that certifies the Web site owner complies with the site's proposed policy. Examples include TRUSTe and BBBOnline.
Profiling The practice of tracking information about consumers' interests by monitoring their movements online. This can be done without using any personal information, but simply by analyzing the content, URL's, and other information about a user's browsing path/click-stream.
Protocol A uniform set of rules that enable two devices to connect and transmit data to one another. Protocols determine how data are transmitted between computing devices and over networks. They define issues such as error control and data compression methods. The protocol determines the following: type of error checking to be used, data compression method (if any), how the sending device will indicate that it has finished a message and how the receiving device will indicate that it has received the message. Internet protocols include TCP/IP (Transfer Control Protocol/Internet Protocol), HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol), FTP (File Transfer Protocol), and SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol).
Proxy servers Intermediaries between end users and Web sites such as ISPs, commercial online services, and corporate networks. Proxy servers hold the most commonly and recently used content from the Web for users in order to provide quicker access and to increase server security.
Push advertising Pro-active, partial screen, dynamic advertisement which comes in various formats.
Rate card The list of prices and products and packages offered by a media company.
Re-direct when used in reference to online advertising, one server assigning an ad-serving or ad-targeting function to another server, often operated by a third company. For instance, a Web publisher's ad management server might re-direct to a third-party hired by an advertiser to distribute its ads to target customers; and then another re-direct to a "rich media" provider might also occur if streaming video were involved before the ad is finally delivered to the consumer. In some cases, the process of re-directs can produce latency. See ad serving, latency.
Reach
  1. unique users that visited the site over the course of the reporting period, expressed as a percent of the universe for the demographic category; also called unduplicated audience;
  2. the total number of unique users who will be served a given ad.
Real time Events that happen in real time are happening virtually at that particular moment. When one chats in a chat room, or sends an instant message, one is interacting in real time since it is immediate.
Referral link Fees paid by advertisers for delivering a qualified sales lead or purchase inquiry.
Referral fees Fees paid by advertisers for delivering a qualified sales lead or purchase inquiry.
Registration A process for site visitors to enter information about themselves. Sites use registration data to enable or enhance targeting of content and ads. Registration can be required or voluntary.
Repeat visitor Unique visitor who has accessed a Web site more than once over a specific time period.
Return Visits The average number of times a user returns to a site over a specific time period.
Rich media A method of communication that incorporates animation, sound, video, and/or interactivity. It can be used either singularly or in combination with the following technologies: streaming media, sound, Flash, and with programming languages such as Java, Javascript, and DHTML. It is deployed via standard Web and wireless applications including e-mail, Web design, banners, buttons, and interstitials.
Rich media A method of communication that incorporates animation, sound, video, and/or interactivity. It can be used either singularly or in combination with the following technologies: streaming media, sound, Flash, and with programming languages such as Java, Javascript, and DHTML. It is deployed via standard Web and wireless applications including e-mail, Web design, banners, buttons, and interstitials.
RON (Run of network) The scheduling of Internet advertising whereby an ad network positions ads across the sites it represents at its own discretion, according to available inventor. The advertiser usually forgoes premium positioning in exchange for more advertising weight at a lower CPM.
ROS (Run of site) The scheduling of Internet advertising whereby ads run across an entire site, often at a lower cost to the advertiser than the purchase of specific site sub-sections.
Router A device that connects any number of LANs. Routers use headers and a forwarding table to determine where packets go, and they communicate with each other to configure the best route between any two hosts.
Sell through rate The percentage of ad inventory sold as opposed to traded or bartered.
Server A computer which distributes files which are shared across a LAN, WAN or the Internet. Also known as a "host".
Session
  1. a sequence of Internet activity made by one user at one site. If a user makes no request from a site during a 30 minute period of time, the next content or ad request would then constitute the beginning of a new visit;
  2. a series of transactions performed by a user that can be tracked across successive Web sites. For example, in a single session, a user may start on a publisher's Web site, click on an advertisement and then go to an advertiser's Web site and make a purchase. See visit.
Session cookie Cookies which are loaded into a computer's RAM, and only work during that browser session. When the browser exits, these cookies are erased. They are ˇ°temporary cookiesˇ±, and no cookie is written to a user's hard drive. See cookie.
Set top box An electronic device that sits on top of one's TV set and allows it to connect to the Internet, game systems, or cable systems.
Skins Customized and interchangeable sets of graphics, which allow Internet users to continually change the look of their desktops or browsers, without changing their settings or functionality. Skins are a type of marketing tool.
Skyscraper A tall, thin online ad unit. The IAB guidelines recommend two sizes of skyscrapers: 120 X 600 and 160 x 600.
Spam Slang term describing unsolicited e-mail.
Spider A program that automatically fetches Web pages. Spiders are used to feed pages to search engines. It is called a spider because it crawls over the Web. Because most Web pages contain links to other pages, a spider can start almost anywhere. As soon as it sees a link to another page, it goes off and fetches it. Large search engines have many spiders working in parallel. See robot.
Splash page A preliminary page that precedes the user-requested page of a Web site that usually promotes a particular site feature or provides advertising. A splash page is timed to move on to the requested page after a short period of time or a click. Also known as an interstitial. Splash pages are not considered qualified page impressions under current industry guidelines, but they are considered qualified ad impressions.
Sponsor
  1. A sponsor is an advertiser who has sponsored an ad and, by doing so, has also helped sponsor or sustain the Web site itself;
  2. an advertiser that has a special relationship with the Web site and supports a specific feature of a Web site, such as a writer's column or a collection of articles on a particular subject.
Sponsorship An association with a Web site in some way that gives an advertiser some particular visibility and advantage above that of run-of-site advertising. When associated with specific content, sponsorship can provide a more targeted audience than run-of-site ad buys.
Static ads
  1. Ads that remain on a Web page for a specified period of time;
  2. embedded ads.
Stickiness A measure used to gauge the effectiveness of a site in retaining individual users. Stickiness is usually measured by the duration of the visit.
Streaming
  1. technology that permits continuous audio and video delivered to a computer from a remote Web site;
  2. an Internet data transfer technique that allows the user to see and hear audio and video files. The host or source compresses, then "streams" small packets of information over the Internet to the user, who can access the content as it is received.
Superstitials An interstitial format developed by Unicast which is fully pre-cached before playing. Specs are 550 x 480 pixels (2/3 of screen), up to 100K file size and up to 20 seconds in length.
Surfing Exploring the World Wide Web.
Textual ad impressions The delivery of a text-based advertisement to a browser. To compensate for slow Internet connections, visitors may disable "auto load images" in their graphical browser. When they reach a page that contains an advertisement, they see a marker and the advertiser's message in text format in place of the graphical ad. Additionally, if a user has a text-only browser, only textual ads are delivered and recorded as textual ad impressions.
Tower ad See Skyscaper
Third party ad server Independent outsourced companies that specialize in managing, maintaining, serving, tracking, and analyzing the results of online ad campaigns. They deliver targeted advertising that can be tailored to consumers' declared or predicted characteristics or preferences.
Transfer The successful response to a page request; also when a browser receives a complete page of content from a Web server.
Transitional ad An ad that is displayed between Web pages. In other words, the user sees an advertisement as he/she navigates between page 'a' and page 'b.' Also known as an interstitial.
Universe Total population of audience being measured.
Upload To send data from a computer to a network. An example of uploading data is sending e-mail.
Usenet Internet bulletin-board application.
User agent string A field in the server log file which identifies the specific browser software and computer operating system making the request.
User centric measurement Web audience measurement based on the behavior of a sample of Web users.
User registration Information contributed by an individual which usually includes characteristics such as the person's age, gender, zip code and often much more. A site's registration system is usually based on an ID code or password to allow the site to determine the number of unique visitors and to track a visitor's behavior within that site.
Viewer Person viewing content or ads on the Web. There is currently no way to measure viewers.
Viral marketing
  1. any advertising that propagates itself;
  2. advertising and/or marketing techniques that "spread" like a virus by getting passed on from consumer to consumer and market to market.
Visit Measurement which has been filtered for robotic activity of one or more text and/or graphics downloads from a site without 30 consecutive minutes of inactivity and which can be reasonably attributed to a single browser for a single session. See iab.net for ad campaign measurement guidelines.
Visit duration The length of time the visitor is exposed to a specific ad, Web page or Web site during a single session.
VRML Programming language designed to be a 3D analog to HTML.
Web beacon A line of code which is used by a Web site or third party ad server to track a user's activity, such as a registration or conversion. A Web beacon is often invisible because it is only 1 x 1 pixel in size with no color. Also known as Web bug, 1 by 1 GIF, invisible GIF and tracker GIF.
Web bug See Web beacon.

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