'Digital Speak' Explained

A [1] B [2] C [3] D [4] E [5] F [6] G [7] H I [8] J [9] K L M [10] N O P [11] Q [12] R [13] S [14] T [15] U [16] V [17] W X Y Z

A

Above the Fold

• The part of the page you can see without scrolling down or over. The exact of space will vary by viewer because of the screen settings. You often pay a premium for advertising placements above the fold, which will add to the costs of emarketing services, but may also add to results. More: Wikipedia Entry [18], The Motive: ATF [19], Forget about the fold [20]

Acknowledgement Page

• This a page that will show an action or transaction a visitor may complete. This may be a 'Receipt Page' or a 'Thank You Page'. This type of page is useful in a Scenario Analysis, which would give a idea of completed orders or transactions.

Acquisition

• This is the process of drawing a visitor to your website.

Active X

• A set of properties developed by Microsoft, that enable software applications to interact with each other.

Ad Network

• A collection of sites that are sold as one by an agent or broker. The ability to book campaigns across a number of different sites is the core deliverable of an Ad Network.

Algorithm

• A very specific instruction written for a computer/computers to enable them to undertake predefined tasks, delivering faster and more efficient results.

Analytics

• Refers to the collection of data about a Web site and its users. Programs typically give performance on data and clicks, time, pages viewed, Web site paths, and a variety of other information. More: WebTrends Whitepapers [21], AnalyticsGuide.com [22]

Animated Gif

• An extension of the .gif format which creates animation through a sequence of images being stored in a single image.

Apache

• A widely used open-source HTTP web server software. Apache.org [23]

API Application

• Programming Interface. A way to connect one program or application to another.

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B

Bandwidth

• Measured in bits-per-second, bandwidth describes connection speeds to the World Wide Web and the speed by which digital files can be exchanged.

Behavioural Targeting

• Behavioural targeting looks to put ads in front of people who should be more receptive to the particular message in light of past web behaviour. The use of Cookies aids this type of audience targeting. More: iMedia on Behavioural Targeting [25], ClickZ - the 3 dimensions of BT [26]

Blog

• A personal online journal, similar to a forum, easily updated and usually managed usually by the individual posting the comments. 'Blog' comes from the term 'Web Log'.

BMP

• A format for storing images (file.bmp)

Bookmark

• A bookmark acts as a marker for a website, allowing you to easily find and visit it again. (In Internet Explorer, they're called "Favorites".)There are also now bookmark sites where you can more effectively large numbers of bookmarked sites you may have. Browser A browser is a program that allows you to view the World Wide Web. There are a number of different browsers but the most commonly used would be; Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Netscape Communicator, Apple Safari, Opera. (It can also refer to a person “browsing” the web)

Byte

• A byte is a unit of information. Most elements of the WWW are made up of Bits & Bytes.

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C

Caching

• This is the process of temporarily storing or buffering web pages in the local memory of a user’s computer in order to speed up access and reduce internet traffic. When a user makes a web element request, the browser they are using will look for the element within its own memory/cache, then a proxy (if any) and finally the intended server. If the element is already within the cache it will usually load faster as it is already stored in the memory as opposed to requesting it from a server and await for the response.

Click Through Rate (CTR)

• Number of click throughs divided by the number of impressions delivered by a particular ad. CTR is a common metric for advertisers in measuring the success of their campaign. It compares how many times your ad is clicked on (and your website is visited) compared to how many times your ad is shown. Poor CTR can be caused by a number of factors, including poor copy and/or placement. More: Marketing Terms [27], Alertbox: Designing Ads using click through data [28]

Contextual Advertising

• This allows advertisers to have ads placed next to relevant website content/articles. More: Webopedia [29], Webpro - Facts, Myths and more [30]

Cookie

• HTTP cookies, sometimes known as web cookies or just cookies, are parcels of text sent by a server to a web browser and then sent back unchanged by the browser each time it accesses that server. HTTP cookies are used for authenticating, tracking, and maintaining specific information about users, such as site preferences and the contents of their electronic shopping carts. More: The Cookie FAQ [31]

CPM (Cost per Impressions)

• An internet pricing structure, particularly for banner/display advertising. CPM rates are based on a cost per thousand impressions. More: AllBiz.com - What is CPM advertising [32]?, SEOChat - CPM ROI Calculator [33]

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D

Domain Name

• This is an internet address which is in alphabetic format such as independent.ie. There must be at least two parts to a domain name which should be separated by a period, and, the part before the period which names the organization and the part after the period which is called the domain type identifies the highest subdomain, for example ie for Ireland, uk for United Kingdom and fr for France etc. The subdomain may also identify whether the organization is a commercial organization (.com), educational organization (.edu) and so on.

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E

Enhanced Creative

• See "Rich Media".

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F

File Type

• Recognition process of a file extension. An example of this would be a graphic file which would have a file extension .gif which identifies it as type "gif".

Flash

• Macromedia’s vector-based graphics file format which is used to display and build interactive animations on a Web page. This form of rich media technology is available via a plug-in. More: Adobe Flash [34], W3Schools - Flash tutorial [35]

Frequency Cap

• This is a pre-set limit to the amount of times a unique user is served a particular ad. The limit can be set for the ad in order that no user sees it more than the number of times specified. For online advertising, frequency caps can only work if the user accepts cookies. If a user from any country or ad network does not accept cookies, then any ad that has a frequency cap in place will not be served to them.

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G

Geo-Targeting

• This type of audience targeting involves targeting customers according to their geographical location, allowing advertisers to be more specific in their reach. This can be donw according to both country and city. More: ClickZ - Benefits of GeoTargeting [36], GeoTargeting on Wikipedia [37]

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I

Image File

• A file that is typically an image. Standard image file formats include GIF, JPEG, and PNG.

Interstitial

• Also known as transitional. This is an ad that appears over a web page for a fixed period of time and then disappears; it is not a fixed position. More: Wikipedia on Interstitial webpage [38]

Inventory

• The quantity of available impressions or ad space that a site or email publisher has to offer for sale, or the ads available to run in a site or message.

IP Address

• Internet Protocol address. A numeric reference that identifies a specific and unique computer on the Internet. IP addresses take the form of four strings of numbers separated by periods, with each string ranging from 0 through 5, such as 189.95.206.12. See also domain name.

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J

Java

• An object-oriented, cross-platform programming language, developed by Sun Microsystems, that can be used to create animations and interactive features on web pages. Java programs, called applets, can be embedded into HTML documents or served as rich media creatives.

JPEG

• Joint Photographic Experts Group. A format for storing high-quality color and grayscale images. JPEGs use the file extension .jpg. A JPEG is considered a standard image creative.

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M

Meta Tag

• A meta tag is a markup tag which is placed within the heading of a page (but is hidden from users) that contains information about the what is in the web-page. The meta tag cannot be seen by users but can by search engines. The two main uses of the meta tag are the description tag and keywords tag. By recognising the meta tag, search engines can find, index and list the page within it's results. The more description there is within a meta tag, the better chances a search engines has for finding your site.

MPEG

• Short for Moving Picture Experts Group, and pronounced m-peg, is a working group of the ISO. The term also refers to the family of digital video compression standards and file formats developed by the group. More: Wikipedia Entry [39], MPEG.org [40]

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P

Page Impression

• An impression is counted each time your ad is displayed on a web page.

Page Request

• A request submitted to a server asking for content to be sent back when a user clicks on a link.

Page Views

• Number of times a user views a page. For reporting purposes certain requests are not counted when page view 'Logs' are counted. More: Opentracker [41]

Pay-per-Click

• A pricing model applied to online advertising whereby the advertiser only pays when the ad is clicked on by a user. More: Google Adwords [42]

PDF

• Portable Document Format (developed by Adobe Systems). A common standard for the exchange of electronic documents. More: Adobe Acrobat [43]

Pop-under

• An advertisement that opens up in a new browser window, but is activated by a user visiting a certain page. These appear behind the browser window in use.

Portal

• A Web site that offers a wealth of content from a number of varied sources.

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Q

QuickTime

• A format of rich media, developed by Apple, that produces streaming audio and visual content to the user through the QuickTime plug-in.

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R

Reach

• The number of unique Users reached by a particular ad campaign or application.

Rich Media

• A term for advanced technology which can be used in Internet ads, such as video and Flash adverts, that allow user interaction and special effects. More: Rich Media IAB Guidelines [44], Adobe | Macromedia: Rich Media topic centre [45]

RSS (Real Simple Syndication)

• Popular new technology that allows content to be given directly to/downloaded by users, at their request. More: What is RSS.com [46]

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S

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)

• Incorporates the various methods used to make a website ‘search engine friendly’ i.e. to have a website rank highly in organic searches. More: Wikipedia on SEO [47]

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T

Traffic

• Amount of data being transferred between computer and website. When a user visits a website, both parties exchange data therefore creating traffic. The data can be things such as e-mails, cookies or page requests.

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U

Unique User

• A unique user is a visitor to a site within a certain period of time (usually a month) and are identified by a persistent cookie. If a user visits a site more than once during a report period, they will be counted as one unique user. Unique users and unique individuals may never be the same because someone may visit a site from the same computer as another person and therefore will be counted as one, simply because the computer will have a cookie which will see it recognised as one user.

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V

Visits

• A sequence of requests made by one user at one site. W Web Address A unique identifier for a web site, also known as a URL. While the real address is a number in most cases this number is attached to a memorable name, such as www.independent.ie [48].

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