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Above The Fold
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Any area of a web page that is viewable without having to use the vertical scroll bar. Ad space in this area is usually more expensive since it is more likely to be viewed by the visitor. |
| Ad Banner |
An ad on a Web page that is usually "hot-linked" to the advertiser's site.
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Ad Clicks
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Number of times visitors click on an ad.
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Ad Click Rate
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Sometimes referred to as "click-through," this is the percentage of ad views that resulted in an ad click.
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Ad Flight
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Ad flight is the amount time an advertising campaign is active.
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Ad Views (Impressions)
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A single view of a page or ad by a visitor. If the same ad appears on multiple pages simultaneously, this statistic may understate the number of ad impressions, due to browser caching. Ad Views corresponds to net impressions in print media such as newspapers.
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| B2B |
Businesses doing business with other businesses. The term is most commonly used in connection with e-commerce and Web Advertising, when you are targeting businesses as opposed to consumers.
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| Backbone |
A larger transmission line that carries data gathered from smaller lines that interconnect with it. At the local level, a backbone is the line or set of lines that a local area network (LAN) would connect to for a local area network connection or within a local area network to communicate efficiently (for example, within a single building or group of buildings). When two or more LAN's are connected through phone lines or radio waves (for example, the Internet) the network becomes a wide area network (WAN). In a WAN, the backbone is a set of paths that local or regional networks connect together for long-distance interconnections.
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| Bandwidth |
How much information (text, images, video, sound) can be sent through a connection. Usually measured in bits-per-second. A full page of text is about 15,000 bits. A 56K modem can move approximately 15,000 bits in one second. |
| Browser Caching |
To speed surfing, browsers store recently used pages on a user's disk. If a site is revisited, browsers display pages from the disk instead of requesting them from the server. As a result, servers under-count the number of times a page is viewed.
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| Button |
Button is the term used to reflect an Internet advertisement smaller than the traditional ad banner. Buttons are square in shape and usually located down the left or right side of the site.
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| CASIE |
CASIE stands for the Coalition for Advertising Supported Information and Entertainment. It was founded in May of 1994 by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) to guide the development of interactive advertising and marketing.
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| CGI |
Common Gateway Interface. An interface-creation scripting program that allows Web pages to be made based on information supplied by the user.
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| Click through |
The percentage of ad views that resulted in an ad click.
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| CPC |
Cost-per-click is an Internet marketing formula used to price ad banners. Advertisers will pay Internet publishers based on the number of clicks a specific ad banner gets. Prices run from a few cents to 20 cents or more per click.
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| CPM |
CPM is the impression cost per thousand for a particular site. A Web site that charges $15,000 per banner and guarantees 600,000 impressions has a CPM of $25 ($15,000 divided by 600). |
| Cyberspace |
Coined by author William Gibson in his 1984 novel "Neuromancer," cyberspace is now used to describe all of the information available through computer networks.
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Domain Name
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The unique name of an Internet site; for example http://dwgt.net. Some top-level domains used in the US: .com (commercial) .edu (educational),.net (network operations), .gov (US and State government), .mil (US military) .org (organization), .ws (website) and .name. Other two letter domains represent countries, for example, .ca for Canada and .mx for mexico. See Sub-Domains.
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Domain Parking
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A convenient way to hold a domain name for a time, in yearly increments. The use of name servers or hosts is required for every domain, that is, every domain name has to be linked to a name server.
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DTC
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DTC stands for "direct-to-consumer." Denotes advertising that is targeted to consumers, as opposed to businesses. Television ads, print ads in publications, and radio ads are DTC advertising forms.
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Hits
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Each time a Web server sends a file to a browser, it is recorded in the server log file as a "hit". Hits are generated for every element of a requested page (including images, graphics, text and interactive items). If a page containing two graphics is viewed by a user, three hits will be recorded: one for the page file and one for each graphic. Webmasters use hits to measure their server's work load and a general website activity indication. Because page designs vary greatly, hits are a poor way to compare traffic between site. For sample stats see Visit Reno August 2004 Stats
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Host
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An Internet host used to be a single machine connected to the Internet (which meant it had a unique IP address). As a host, it made available to other machines on the network certain services. However virtual hosting has now meant that one physical host can now be actually many virtual hosts.
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| HTML |
HyperText Markup Language is a coding language used to make hypertext documents for use on the Web. HTML resembles old-fashioned typesetting code, where a block of text is surrounded by codes that indicate how it should appear. HTML allows text to be "linked" to other files on the Internet.
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| Hypertext |
Any text that that can be chosen by a reader and which causes another document to be retrieved and displayed.
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| IAB |
Interactive Advertising Bureau. The IAB is a global nonprofit association devoted exclusively to maximizing the use and effectiveness of advertising on the Internet. The IAB sponsors research and events related to the Internet advertising industry.
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| ICANN |
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. The organisation in charge of world-wide domain and commercial names management on the Internet.
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| Internet |
A collection of over 60,000 independent, inter-connected networks that use the TCP/IP protocols and that evolved from ARPA Net in the late 1960's.
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| Interstitial |
Literally a small space between things, on the World Wide Web it means an advertisement that appears in a separate browser window or popup, while you wait for a Web page to load. Interstitials are more likely to contain large graphics, streaming presentations, and applets than conventional banner ads. Some studies have found that more visitors click on interstitials than on ad banners. On dial-up connections, interstitials can noticeably slow access to pages.
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| IP address |
Internet Protocol address. Every system connected to the Internet has a unique IP address, which consists of a number in the format A.B.C.D where each of the four sections is a decimal number from 0 to 255. Most people use Domain Names instead and the resolution between Domain Names and IP addresses is handled by the network and the Domain Name Servers. With virtual hosting, a single machine can act like multiple machines (with multiple domain names and IP addresses).
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| IRC |
Internet Relay Chat is a worldwide network of people talking to each other in real time.
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| ISDN |
Integrated Services Digital Network. Digital phone lines that can transmit both voice and digital network services up to 128K, and are much faster and more reliable than high-speed analog modems.
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Java
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Java is a general purpose programming language with a number of features that make the language well suited for use on the World Wide Web. Small Java applications are called Java applets and can be downloaded from a Web server and run on within a Java-compatible Web browser, such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer.
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| Javascript |
Javascript is a scripting language developed by Netscape that can interact with HTML source code, enabling Web authors to increase interactivity on Websites.
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| Jump Page |
A jump page, also known as a "splash page," is a special page set up for visitors who clicked on a link in an advertisement. For example, by clicking on an ad for Site X, visitors go to a page in Site X that continues the message used in the advertising creative. The jump page can be used to promote special offers or to measure the response to an advertisement.
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| Link |
An electronic connection between two Web sites (also called "hot link").
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| Log file |
A file that lists actions that have occurred. For example, Web servers maintain log files listing every request made to the server. With log file analysis tools, it's possible to get a good idea of where visitors are coming from, how often they return, and how they navigate through a site. Using cookies enables Webmasters to log even more detailed information about how individual visitors are accessing a site.
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Masking for sub-domains
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Masking prevents the destination URL of a forwarded sub-domain is prevented from being revealed to anyone visiting the sub-domain, therfore it is called Masked. The Forwarding with Masking option further enables visitors to add a title, plus description and keywords Meta tag data to the masked site.
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| Pixels |
The smallest discrete element of an image or picture on a CRT screen (usually a single-colored dot).
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| Newsgroup |
A discussion group on Usenet devoted to talking about a specific topic. Currently, there are over 15,000 newsgroups.
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| Opt-in e-mail |
Opt-in email lists are lists where Internet visitors have voluntarily signed up to receive commercial e-mail about topics of interest.
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Page
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All Web sites are a collection of electronic "pages." Each Web page is a document formatted in HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) and XHTML (Extensible Hypertext Markup Language) aka XTML, that contains text, images or media objects such as RealAudio player files, QuickTime videos or Java applets. The "home page" is typically a visitor's first point of entry and features a site index. Pages can be static or dynamically generated.
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| Pixels |
The smallest discrete element of an image or picture on a CRT screen (usually a single-colored dot).
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RealAudio
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A commercial software program that plays audio on demand, without waiting for long file transfers. For example, you can listen to radio broadcasts on the Internet.
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| Rich Media |
Rich Media describes a broad range of digital interactive media. It can be downloaded and viewed or used with media players such as Real Networks' RealPlayer, Microsoft Media Player, or Apple's QuickTime, for example. It also may be embedded in a Webpage, such as a Flash presentation.
The defining characteristic of rich media is that it exhibits dynamic motion. This motion may occur over time or in direct response to user interaction.
Two examples of dynamic motion that occur over time are a streaming video newscast and a stock "ticker" that continually updates itself. An example of dynamic motion in response to user interaction is a prerecorded Webcast coupled with a synchronized slide show that allows user control. Another is an animated, interactive presentation file embedded in a web page.
Rich media also presents accessibility challenges. Rich media can be made accessible to all, if the elements (all of them) are developed with accessibility in mind and the end product is used on accessible media players. Accessible rich media usually includes closed captioning, audio descriptions, and keyboard navigating.
Accessible media players are those that can be operated by all individuals, including those using screen readers. They must also provide authors with the means to add captions, audio descriptions, extended audio descriptions, and subtitles. The current level of accessibility for media players creates interesting situations. Compatibility issues vary,
for example, captions may look different when created on one player and then played back on another. Captions developed using one format may look fine using that format's player, but then appear larger or smaller when later viewed on a competitors player.
Considerable improvements in accessibility have been made. A free captioning and description tool, MAGpie, is now available for adding captions and audio description to video and audio files.
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| Scope Creep |
The most prevalent cause of Web project failures. In badly planned projects, it is the gradual process by which previously unplanned features are added, major changes in content or site structure during site construction are made, and more content or interactive functionality than you originally agreed to create is added in. No single additional feature or change is fatal; but the slow, steady accumulation of additions and changes is often enough to blow budgets, ruin schedules, and bury the original plan.
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Server
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A Computer that makes services available on a network to other computers. A file server makes files available.
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Splash page
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See Jump page.
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Sponsorship
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Sponsorships are increasing in popularity on the Internet. A sponsorship is when an advertisers pays to sponsor content, usually a section of Web site oran e-mail newsletter. In the case of a site, the sponsorship may include banners or buttons on the site, and possibly a tag line.
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Sticky
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"Sticky" sites are those where the visitors stay for an extended period of time. For instance, a banking site that offers a financial calculator is stickier than on that doesn't, because visitors do not have to leave to find a resource they need.
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Sub-domain
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Sub-domains are useful for categorizing areas of your Web site for a more professional image, any may be easier to remember. For example, art.dwgt.net is easier to remember than dwgt.net/nvart.html.
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| T-1, T-2, T-3 |
A high-speed network connection through bundled phone lines. A T-1 Line is 24 circuits, a T-2 is 4 T-1's or 96 circuits, a T-3 is 28 T-1's or 672 circuits used by large corporations.
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| TCP |
Transmission Control Protocol works with IP to ensure that packets travel safely on the Internet.
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Unique Users, Unique Visitors
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Unique Users or visitors are the number of different visits, the number considered to be an estimation of unique visitors to a site, within a given timeout period. Because there is no way to determine the exact number, it is an estimate. Most websites do not require login, therfore Unique visitors are difficult to measure without cookies, however some visitors refuse to accept cookies, so you may block some visits by using cookies. Unique Hosts The number of unique hosts as a trend over time can be indicative of the coverage that your website is receiving. If the number of unique hosts per month increases over a specific time period, then you probably reaching a broader group of visitors.
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| UNIX |
A computer operating system (Similar in function to Windows 98 or XP). UNIX is designed to be used by many people at once ("multi-user") and has TCP/IP built-in. Unix is the most prevalent operating system for Internet servers.
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| Valid Hits |
A further refinement of hits, valid hits are hits that deliver all information to a user. Excludes hits such as redirects, error messages and computer-generated hits.
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| Visits |
A sequence of requests made by one user at one site. If a visitor does not request any new information for a period of time, known as the "time-out" period, then the next request by the visitor is considered a new visit.
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