When a user does not complete a transaction.

Delivery of online adverts to an end user’s computer by an ad management system. The system allows different online adverts to be served in order to target different audience groups and can serve adverts across multiple sites. Ad technology providers each have their own proprietary models for this.

An affiliate (a web site owner or publisher), displays an advertisement (such as a banner or link) on its site for a merchant (the brand or advertiser). If a consumer visiting the affiliate's site clicks on this advertisement and goes onto perform a specified action (usually a purchase) on an advertisers site then the affiliate receives a commission.

The set of “rules” a search engine may use to determine the relevance of a web page (and therefore ranking) in its organic search results. See also organic search results and Search Engine Optimization

A picture or cartoon used to represent an individual in chat forums, games or on a web site as a help function.

The transmission rate of a communication line- usually measured in Kilobytes per second (Kbps). This relates to the amount of data that can be carried per second by your internet connection. See also Broadband

A long, horizontal, online advert usually found running across the top of a page in a fixed placement. See also Universal Advertising Package, embedded formats

A form of online marketing that uses advertising technology to target web users based on their previous behavior. Advertising creative and content can be tailored to be of more relevance to a particular user by capturing their previous decision making behavior (e.g.: filling out preferences or visiting certain areas of a site frequently) and looking for patterns.

An online space regularly updated presenting the opinions or activities of one or a group of individuals and displaying in chronological order.

An internet connection that is always on and that delivers a higher bit rate (128 kbps or above) than a standard dial-up connection. It allows for a better online experience as pages load quickly and you can download items faster.

When a streaming media player saves portions of file until there is enough information for the file to begin playing.

Used to store web pages you have seen already. When you go back to those pages they'll load more quickly because they come from the cache and don't need to be downloaded over the internet again.

When a user interacts with an advertisement and clicks through to the advertiser’s web site.

Frequency of “Click-throughs” as a percentage of impressions served. Used as a measure of advertising effectiveness. See also impression, click-through

Advertising that is targeted to the content on the Web page being viewed by a user at that specific time.

A small text file on the user’s PC that identifies the user’s browser and hence, the user so they are “recognized” when they re-visit a site e.g.: it allows user names to be stored and web sites to personalize their offering.

Measure of success of an online ad when compared to the click-through rate. What defines a “conversion” depends on the marketing objective e.g.: it can be defined as a sale or request to receive more information…etc

A pricing model that only charges advertising on an action being conducted e.g. a sale or a form being filled in.

Cost to acquire a new customer.

The amount paid by an advertiser for a click on their sponsored search listing. See also PPC.

Also known as Cost per Thousand. Online advertising can be purchased on the basis of what it costs to show the ad to one thousand viewers (CPM). It is used in marketing as a benchmark to calculate the relative cost of an advertising campaign or an ad message in a given medium. Rather than an absolute cost, CPM estimates the cost per 1000 views of the ad.

Linking beyond a home page to a page inside the site with content pertinent to the advert.

The unique name of an internet site e.g. www.kizographics.com

Those emails sent as part of a mailing distribution which did not have a valid recipient email address and so generated a formal failure message.

Advertising formats that are displayed in set spaces on a publisher’s page. See also banners, skyscrapers, button.

Fixed online advertising placements that expand over the page in the response to user action e.g.: mouse over. See also Rich Media.

Provides security for a computer or local network by preventing unauthorized access. It sits as a barrier between the web and your computer in order to prevent hacking, viruses or unapproved data transfer.

Web design software that creates animation and interactive elements which are quick to download.

The total number of requests made for pages holding flash-based content by users of that site in the period being measured.

A single request from a web browser for a single item from a web server.

Stands for HyperText Markup Language, which is the set of commands used by web browsers to interpret and display page content to users.

The metric used to measure views of a web page and its elements - including the advertising embedded within it. Ad Impressions are how most online advertising is sold and the cost is quoted in terms of the cost per thousand impressions (CPM).

Online advertising formats that appear on users' screens on top of web content (and sometimes before web page appears) and range from static, one-page splash screens to full-motion animated advertisements. See also overlay, pop-up

Which appear between two content pages. Also known as splash pages and transition ads. See also Rich Media.

The numerical internet address assigned to each computer on a network so that it can be distinguished from other computers. Expressed as four groups of numbers separated by dots.

The use of a broadband connection to stream digital television over the internet to subscribed users.

High-speed dial-up connections to the internet over normal phone lines.

A company which provides users with the means to connect to the internet.

The purchase of keywords (or ‘search terms’) by advertisers in search listings. See also PPC.

A group of computers connected together, which are at one physical location.

A record of all the hits a web server has received over a given period of time.

HTML tags that identify the content of a web page for the search engines

A sub-site reached via clicking on an ad. The user stays on the publisher’s web site but has access to more information from the advertiser.

A computer file format that compresses audio files up to a factor of 12 from a .wav file.

File format used to compress and transmit video clips online.

A square online advert usually found embedded in a web page in a fixed placement. Called ‘multiple purpose’ as it is a flexible shaped blank ‘canvas’ in which you can serve flat or more interactive content as desired. See also Rich Media, Universal Advertising Package.

The 'natural' search results that appear in a separate section (usually the main body of the page) to the paid listings. The results listed here have not been paid for and are ranked by the search engine (using spiders or algorithms according to relevancy to the term searched upon. See also spiders, algorithm, SEO.

An individual has given a company permission to use his/her data for marketing purposes.

An individual has stated that they do not want a company to use his/her data for marketing purposes.

The ‘natural’ search results that appear in a separate section (usually the main body of the page) to the paid listings. The results listed here have not been paid for and are ranked by the search engine (using spiders or algorithms) according to relevancy to the term searched upon. See also spiders, algorithm, SEO.

Online advertising content that appears over the top of the web page. See also Rich Media.

In exchange for a payment, a search engine will guarantee to list/review pages from a web site. It is not guaranteed that the pages will rank well for particular queries – this still depends on the search engine's underlying relevancy process.

The search results list in which advertisers pay to be featured according to the PPC model. This list usually appears in a separate section to the organic search results- usually at the top of the page or down the right hand side. See also Organic search results, PPC (Pay Per Click).

See PPC.

An illegal method whereby legitimate looking e-mails (appearing to come from a well-known bank, for example) are used in an attempt to get personal information that can be used to steal a user's identity.

An illegal method of redirecting traffic from another company’s web site (such as a bank) to a fake one designed to look similar in order to steal user details when they try to log in. See also Phishing.

Podcasting involves making an audio file (usually in MP3 format) of content - usually in the form of a radio program - that is available to download to an MP3 player.

Fixed online advertising placements that load and display additional Flash content after the host page on which the advert appears has finished loading. See also Flash.

An ad that appears in a separate window beneath an open window. Pop-under ads are concealed until the top window is closed, moved, resized or minimised.

An online advert that ‘pops up’ in a window over the top of a web page. See also interruptive formats.

Allows advertisers to bid for placement in the paid listings search results on terms that are relevant to their business. Advertisers pay the amount of their bid only when a consumer clicks on their listing. Also called sponsored search/ paid search.

The name given to the adverts shown before, or whilst an online video is loading. There can be more than one and although they all vary in length, they average 21seconds in duration.

The number of unique web users potentially seeing a web site one or more times in a given time period expressed as a percentage of the total active web population for that period.

The collective name for online advertising formats that use advanced technology to harnesses broadband to build brands. It uses interactive and audio-visual elements to give richer content and a richer experience for the user when interacting with the advert. See also Interstitial, Superstitial, Overlay and Rich Media Guidelines.

Design guidelines produced by the IAB for effective use of Rich Media technologies in all forms of internet advertising. They aim to protect user experience by keeping them in control of the experience eg: encouraging clearly labelled close, sound and video buttons.

Software that allows you to flag web site content (often from blogs or new sites) and aggregate new entries to this content into an easy to read format that is delivered directly to a user's PC. See also blogs.

An organization which sells advertising on behalf of other media owners. These sales houses typically retain a percentage of the revenue they sell in exchange for their services. These organizations may combine a number of web sites together and sell them as different packages to advertisers.

The process which aims to get web sites listed prominently in search-engine results through search-engine optimization, sponsored search and paid inclusion. See also PPC and SEO and Paid Inclusion.

The process which aims to get web sites listed prominently within search engine’s organic (algorithmic, spidered) search results. Involves making a site ‘search engine friendly’. See also organic listings.

The page generated by a search engine when a search query is completed, listing relevant web sites.

A host computer which maintains web sites, newsgroups and e-mail services.

The time spent between a user starting an application, computer, web site..etc and logging off or quitting

The reporting and analysis of web site activity - in particular user behavior on the site. All web sites have a web log which can be used for this purpose, but other third party software is available for a more sophisticated service.

A long, vertical, online advert usually found running down the side of a page in a fixed placement. See also Universal Advertising Package.

Which identifies the capabilities of the user’s browser and therefore can determine compatibility with ad formats and serve them an advert they will be able to see/fully interact with (eg: GIF, Flash etc).

Where the body of the e-mail is determined by the advertiser, including both text and graphical elements, and is sent on their behalf by an e-mail list manager/owner. Solus e-mail advertising is conducted on an opt-in basis where the recipient has given their consent to receive communications.

Unsolicited junk mail.

A program which crawls the web and fetches web pages in order for them to be indexed against keywords. Used by search engines to formulate search result pages. See also organic listings.

See PPC (Pay Per Click).

Advertiser sponsorships of targeted content areas (e.g. entire web site, site area or an event) often for promotional purposes.

Measure used to gauge the effectiveness of a site in retaining its users. Usually measured by the duration of the visit.

Compressed audio/video which plays and downloads at the same time. The user does not have to wait for the whole file to download before it starts playing.

A form of rich media advertising which allows a TV-like experience on the web. It is fully pre-cached before playing. See also Rich Media, Cache.

The ‘renting’ out of a section of a web site by another brand who pays commission to this media owner for any revenue generated from this space. Eg: dating services inside portals or bookstores inside online newspapers

Number of visitors who come to a web site.

A set of online advertising formats that are standardised placements as defined the by the IAB. See also banner, skyscraper, button, MPU and embedded formats.

Number of different individuals who visit a site within a specific time period.

Technical term that is used to refer to the web address of a particular web site. For example www.kizographics.com

Online content created by web site users rather than media owners or publishers - either through reviews, blogging, podcasting or posting comments, pictures or video clips. Sites that encourage user generated content include MySpace, YouTube, Wikipedia and Flickr. See also blog, podcast.

The term "viral advertising" refers to the idea that people will pass on and share striking and entertaining content; this is often sponsored by a brand, which is looking to build awareness of a product or service. These viral commercials often take the form of funny video clips, or interactive Flash games, images, and even text.

Technology that allows the use of a broadband Internet connection to make telephone calls.

The term Web 2.0 - with its knowing nod to upgraded computer applications - describes the next generation of online use. Web 2.0 identifies the consumer as a major contributor in the evolution of the internet into a two-way medium. See also user generated content.

An e-mail white list is a list of contacts that the user deems are acceptable to receive e-mail from and should not be sent to the trash folder (wikipedia definition).

Standard for providing mobile data services on hand-held devices.

The ability to connect to the internet wirelessly. Internet ‘hotspots’ in coffee shops and airports..etc use this technology.

A wiki is a type of web site that allows the visitors themselves to easily add, remove, and otherwise edit and change some available content, sometimes without the need for registration.