Glossary of Digital Marketing Terms

We pride ourselves on the quality and relevancy information that we provide you. We strive to use lay terms where ever we are able to. There are many specific digital marketing terms used across our market place and below we have links to definiitions of those terms for your convenience. We add to this page frequently.

A to Z

above the fold

In the context of banner ad placement, above the fold refers to a banner placement on a web page that can be viewed without scrolling either horizontally or vertically. Most online ad networks define suitable above the fold placement as within 500 or 600 pixels of the top of the page.

ad flight

In the context of online advertising, an ad flight refers to the run of a single advertisement or group of advertisements from start to finish.

ad network

Ad networks are advertising companies which administer ad sales, billing, serving and collection for web sites. Ad networks often aggregate sites into specific categories or demographic groups, then sell ad inventory to advertisers either to specific sites within the networks, specific categories or demographics, or via run of network buys which target sites within the network.

ad server

A third-party system composed of powerful server hardware, ad serving software, and a resilient internet connection, used by advertisers and publishers for display of online adverts.

ad views or impressions

Is the number of times a specific ad has been displayed.

affiliate program

An affiliate program is a sales model in which a web publisher markets, via their web site(s), a given product, such as software or books, on behalf of another company. Remuneration rates can vary from 1-2% and upward.

animated GIF

An image in GIF format composed of multiple layers which display in turn, providing the illusion of motion.

B2B (Business-to-Business)

B2B, or Business-to-Business, defines a business, often a web site, targeting other commercial entities rather than consumers.

banner exchange

A banner exchange provides the potential to draw extra traffic to a web site through banner displays and is a good way to fill unsold or onprofitable inventory.

banner, banner ad

Banner and banner ad are generic terms describing the most common forms of online advertising, the 468x60 image or rich media ad displayed at the top of many commercial web sites.

click-through rate (CTR), Ad Click Rate

CTR, or click-through rate, is the rate at which visitors click an advertisement, usually calculated as a percentage of ad impressions.

CPA, cost per action, cost per acquisition

CPA, or cost per action, is an ad payment model in which advertisers pay only when an ad display leads to a completed sale, registration, download, etc. Almost all affiliate network advertising can be thought of as CPA.

CPC, cost per click

A performance-based pricing model for advertising sales, CPC, or cost per click pays publishers based on number of clicks on a specific ad.

CPL, cost per lead

Similar to CPA (cost per action), the CPL ad pricing model pays web publishers for every banner click that results in a lead or inquiry for the advertiser. Advertisers pay publishers only when a visitor not only click the ad and visit the advertiser's site, but also performs a desired action on that site.

CPM, cost-per-thousand

CPM, or cost per thousand, is the price an advertiser pays for each 1000 displays of a banner ad.

below the fold

The bottom most visible area of a web page as displayed on a standard screen size (currently defined as 800x600 pixels).

IAB (IAB UK)

Internet Advertising Bureau: The IAB, or Internet Advertising Bureau, is an association dedicated to helping online, interactive broadcasting, email, wireless and interactive television media companies increase their revenues.

interstitial, interstitial ad

Interstitial advertisements are usually full-page ads displayed while a user is in transit from one page to another, triggered by code included in the link.

landing page

A landing page is the advertiser's web page to which a user is directed after clicking an ad.

rich media, rich media ads

Rich media advertisements are banners which are constructed using dynamic tools such as Flash, html forms, Java, ASP, Shockwave, Javascript, or other languages or applications that increase the appearance and/or functionality of the ad beyond that which can be achieved with a static or animated image.

ROI, return on investment

ROI, or return on investment, is a calculation used to determine the relative efficacy of an ad campaign in financial terms, in particular whether or not an ad campaign has generated more or less new revenue than it cost. Due to the direct response nature of many internet ad campaigns, it may be possible to determine ROI with much greater precision than, for example, a television commercial. The response to broader, branding-style campaigns may be more imprecise.

RON, run of network, run of network buy

A RON, or run of network, buy means that an advertiser purchases banner inventory across an ad network's entire range of sites.

skyscraper, skyscraper ad, skyscraper banner

Skyscraper ads are most commonly 120x600 pixels, a new variation on the standard skyscraper, the wide skyscraper, hese are 160x600.

sponsorship, sponsorships

Sponsorships can be defined as when an advertiser pays to advertise on all of a website or email broadcast.

targeting, ad targeting

Targeting refers to the means by which advertisers attempt to reach a desired audience through choice of category, choice of web site, choice of demographic, geographic location, or whatever other criteria the advertiser finds interesting.

traffic

Just as it sounds, traffic refers to the rate at which a site is visited. The term is general, but the best true measures of traffic are calculated in terms of unique visitors and page views.

unique users, unique visitors, uniques, unique impressions

Unique users refers the the number of distinct individuals, as determined by IP address, user login, cookie, or some combination thereof, who visit a web site or view a banner ad.

visits

The number of distinct visits to a web site within a specified time period, such as one day or one month. Visits are an imprecise term and numbers may vary considerably depending on the type of calculation used, but many log and statistical applications define a visit as a single browser session by a single IP address.

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