glossary blog button cookie cpm hit impressions/ad views log file news group organic listing (and algorithmic listings) paid inclusion pop ups ppc rich media roi search engine directory sponsorship sticky skyscrapers unique users visit blog a blog is an online journal that allows multiple users to comment and communicate on a common subject. button button is the term used to reflect an internet advertisement smaller than the traditional banner. cookie refers to a piece of information sent by a web server to a web browser that the browser software is expected to save and to send back to the server whenever the browser makes additional requests from the server. cpm short for cost per thousand (the letter "m" in the abbreviation is the roman numeral for one thousand). cpm is used by internet marketers to price ad banners, pop-ups, and pop-unders. sites that sell advertising will guarantee an advertiser a certain number of impressions (number of times an ad banner is downloaded and presumably seen by visitors.), then set a rate based on that guarantee times the cpm rate. (see also skyscraper) hit 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 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 itself and one for each graphic. webmasters use hits to measure their server's work load. because page designs vary greatly, hits are a poor guide for traffic measurement. impressions/ad views refers to the number of times an ad banner is displayed on a page whether by search or navigating a site. if the same ad appears on multiple pages simultaneously, this statistic may understate the number of ad impressions, due to browser caching. this corresponds to net impressions in traditional media. there is currently no way of knowing if an ad was actually loaded. most servers record an ad as served even if it was not. log file a file that lists actions that have occurred on a web-site. 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 users are accessing a site. news group a discussion group on usenet devoted to talking about a specific topic. currently, there are over 15,000 newsgroups. organic listing (and algorithmic listings) a listing that appears naturally (organically) in search results as opposed to sponsored listings. organic listings rely on relevancy of content to attain higher positioning in search results. paid inclusion refers to the process whereby a search engine spider indexes a site on a regular basis. typically this occurs every 24 to 48 hours. historically done annually but now many engines including yahoo search submit express are moving to a one time submittal fee and cost per click model. pop ups a window that suddenly appears (pops up) when you select an option with a mouse or press a special function key. usually, the pop-up window contains a menu of commands and stays on the screen only until you select one of the commands. many browsers now include pop-up blockers and this practice is declining. ppc pay per click. refers to the search engine based process whereby an advertiser pays a fixed amount whenever a user clicks on a sponsored banner ad that brings the user to his site. the sponsored ads appear as a result of specific keyword searches by the user. common ppc engines include yahoo/overture and google adwords. rich media rich media is a term for advanced technology used in internet ads, such as macromedia flash, streaming video, sound, applets that allow user interaction, and special effects. roi roi stands for "return on investment." roi is defined as profit divided by total expense in achieving a given action such as a sale. ztmc salestrax is a tool for tracking roi in ad campaigns. search engine directory a search engine directory is a human filtered engine that places sites in categories. yahoo is the largest. in addition, dmoz and looksmart provide directories. one of the realities of most directories now is that there is some bias (a site may not be accepted by a directory) and most require fees for inclusion. dmoz is human filtered volunteer directory. sponsorship a sponsorship is a paid advertisement, usually for a section of web site or within an e-mail newsletter. sponsorships are popular on the internet. in the case of a site, the sponsorship may include banners or buttons on the site, and possibly a tag line. this term is often associated with ppc advertising on search engines. sticky "sticky" refers to the ability to increase user retention time. 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 one without it because the user is inclined to spend expended periods using the calculator. skyscrapers tall banner ad rather then being long common size 125 pixels wide by 600 pixels long. unique users refers to the number of different individuals who visit a site within a specific time period. to identify unique users, web sites rely on some form of user registration or identification system. this could include cookie based or ip based tracking. visit 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. this is also referred to as a "user session."