Media Terms
Broadcast
Adjacency - an advertising pod positioned next to a particular TV or radio program. Also called commercial break positions.
Affidavit - a statement, usually notarized, accompanying station invoices which confirms that the commercial actually ran at the time stated on the invoice.
Affiliate - a station associated with a network by contract to broadcast the network's programs.
Air Date - the first broadcast of a commercial; also refers to the exact date of a particular TV or radio program.
Availability (“avails”) - unsold units of time available for broadcasters to sell to advertisers. Also refers to a station's submission of programs and rating estimates for advertising planning and buying.
Average Quarter-Hour Rating - the audience estimate reported by Nielsen and Arbitron for television and radio. It provides the average number of persons or households who watched/listened for at least 5 minutes of the 15 minute segment being reported.
Bonus Spot - additional TV or radio spot provided to an advertiser at no charge to raise the overall audience delivery of the schedule.
Break Position - a broadcast commercial aired between two programs instead of in the middle of one program.
Broadcast Calendar - an industry-accepted calendar used mainly for accounting and billing purposes. Weeks run Monday-Sunday, and each month is four or five weeks long.
Cable TV - TV programming that is delivered by coaxial cable rather than over the air for the purposes of improved reception and delivery of additional program choices beyond the local stations.
Clearance - a station's agreement to carry a particular program.
Cost Per Rating Point - The cost of reaching an Average Quarter-Hour Persons audience that's equivalent to one percent of the population in a given demographic group.
[Cost of Schedule] / [GRP] = Cost Per Rating Point or [Spot Cost] / [AQH Rating] = Cost Per Rating Point
Cost Per Thousand (CPM) - The cost of delivering 1,000 gross impressions.
[Cost of Schedule] / [GI] x 1,000 = CPM or [Spot Cost] / [AQH Persons] x 1,000 = CPM
Cume Persons - The total number of different persons who tune to a radio station during the course of a daypart for at least five minutes.
Cume Rating - The Cume Persons audience expressed as a percentage of all persons estimated to be in the specified demographic group.
[Cume Persons / Population] x 100 = Cume Rating (%)
Cut-In - a commercial inserted by the local station that covers the commercial airing at the same time on the network at the advertiser's request. Useful for testing different copy in a limited geography.
Daypart - one of the time segments into which the day is divided by broadcast media, determined by type of programming and who provides it (network or local).
Designated Market Area (DMA) - Nielsen term for geographical areas made up of exclusive counties based on which home market stations receive the predominant share of viewing.
Diary -an instrument for measuring viewing, listening or reading of media vehicles kept by people in a sample.
Drive Time - the dayparts used in radio to signify primary listening being done in cars. Generally considered to be Monday-Friday 6- 10 a.m. and 3-7 p.m. HUT-(Households Using Television) - a broadcast research term indicating the percent of homes with sets on during a specific time period.
Gross Impressions - (GIs)The sum of the Average Quarter-Hour Persons audience for all spots in a given schedule.
[AQH Persons] x [the number of spots in an advertising schedule] = GIs
Gross Rating Points (GRPs) - The sum of all rating points achieved for a particular spot schedule.
[AQH Rating] x [the number of spots in an advertising schedule] = GRPs
ID - station identification of its call letters and location, channel or frequency. Also refers to any commercial message less than ten seconds long.
Infomercial - a long (more than two minutes) commercial providing extensive product/service description and sales information.
Log - chronological record of a station's program and commercial exact air times.
Network - two or more stations joined by a line to broadcast the same program from a few original studios simultaneously.
Network Affiliate - a television or radio station that designates a portion of its air time for network programs.
Nielsen Ratings - Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by the Nielsen Company, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States.
O & O Station - a station owned and operated by a network.
O.T.O. - one time only, usually referring to a TV or radio special program.
Overnights - audience data provided by Nielsen or Arbitron to metered market clients the day after the broadcast.
Pay Per View - a type of Pay TV where viewers are charged each time they watch the special event or movie being broadcast.
Pay TV - a TV system providing programs which are available only to the households who subscribe, usually transmitted via coaxial cable or telephone lines.
Also called "premium channels" on cable, such is HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, Starz, etc.
Persons Using Radio (PUR) - the percent of the area's population listening to radio at a specific time.
Piggyback - back-to-back scheduling of two or more brand commercials of one advertiser in network or spot positions.
Pilot - a sample of a proposed television series.
Pre-emption - the substitution of one advertiser's local TV commercial by another advertiser paying a higher price for the spot, or by a different program of interest.
PVT/PUT (Persons Viewing or Using Television) - the percent of individuals viewing all television stations during a specific time period, indicating total viewing to TV in general, not to a specific program or station.
Rating (AQH or Cume) - The audience expressed as a percentage of the total population.
[Listeners / Population] x 100 = Rating (%)
Roadblocking - a scheduling technique where a brand's commercial airs at approximately the same time on all three networks or on all stations in a given market.
R.O.S. (Run Of Schedule or Run Of Station) - a broadcast schedule, similar to R.O.P. where specific programs and air times have not been requested by the advertiser.
Share - The percentage of those listening to radio in the Metro who are listening to a particular radio station.
[AQH Persons to a Station / AQH Persons to All Stations] x 100 = Share (%)
Simulcast - broadcast of the same program at the same time on both AM and FM radio stations. Can also refer to a radio station simultaneously broadcasting the audio portion of a TV program.
Spill-In - the amount of programming viewed within a market area to stations that are licensed to an adjacent market.
Spill-Out - the amount of viewing to local stations outside the home market area.
Strip - a program scheduled at the same time each day, typically Monday-Friday.
Superstation - an independent station whose signal is transmitted to many markets via a satellite.
Sweeps - the four 4-week periods when all TV markets are measured by Nielsen and Arbitron for station viewing and demographic information. Sweep months are February, May, July and November.
Syndicated Program - a program bought by a station or advertiser from an independent organization, not a network.
TAP (Total Audience Plan) - a radio schedule consisting of equal distribution of commercials across all major dayparts.
Time Spent Listening (TSL) - An estimate of the number of quarter-hours the average person spends listening during a specified time period.
[(Quarter-Hours in a time period) x (AQH Persons)] / Cume Audience = TSL
Turnover - the ratio of a cumulative audience to the average audience for a given period of time. Indicates how loyal a given audience may be for specific stations or programs.
Upfront - a term indicating that an advertiser has purchased advertising for the coming broadcast year in an early buying season, typically for the benefit of lower rates and CPM guarantees.
General Media Terms
Advertising Impressions -the audience delivery of media vehicles, programs or schedules. Usually expressed as thousands (000).
Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) - a non-profit organization of advertisers, agencies and the media for promoting advertising effectiveness through objective research.
Advertising Weight - the level of advertising support over a period of time, expressed in gross rating points, impressions, target audience reached, etc.
Aided Recall - a research technique where the respondent is given aid to help remember all or parts of advertising.
As It Falls - a testing method whereby the media test market receives the same media weight, purchased locally, as it would receive from a national theoretical plan.
Average Frequency - the number of times the average person or household is exposed to an advertising schedule. It is always derived from Gross Rating Points and Reach.
Barter - a term used to indicate that advertising was paid for by the advertiser using goods and services rather than cash.
BDI (Brand Development Index) - a measure of the strength of a brand's sales in a particular geographic area indexed to the national sales average.
CDI (Category Development Index) - a measurement of a brand's sales potential using sales of all brands within a category in a specific market indexed to national sales average.
Clutter - the term given to the proliferation of advertising messages aimed at consumers. In TV, it refers to all non-program minutes, such as commercials, station promotions, billboards, public service announcements, etc.
Cost Per Rating Point (Cost Per Point, CPP, Cost Per GRP) - the cost to reach one percent of the universe, households or individuals, in a given market or geographic area.
Cost Per Thousand (CPM) - the cost to reach 1,000 units of audience, households or individuals, for advertising. Used as a measure of efficiency among media and media schedules.
Coverage Area - the specific geography where a media vehicle has its coverage. In broadcast, coverage usually describes the area to which the station's signal extends. In print, coverage usually means the circulation area.
Cume (Cumulative Audience) - another way of expressing reach. The total number of different people or households exposed to advertising at least once during the media schedule.
Demographics - the most recent statistical characteristics of a population. These types of data are used widely in sociology (and especially in the subfield of demography), public policy and marketing. Commonly examined demographics include gender, race, age, disabilities, mobility, home ownership, employment status, education and even location.
Direct Response Advertising - any advertising message that calls for a prompt response to purchase a product or request more information.
Display Advertising - Print advertising that is intended to attract attention and communicate easily through the use of space, illustrations, layout, headline, and so on, as opposed to classified advertising.
Duplication - the number or percent of the target audience in one media vehicle also exposed to another vehicle.
Efficiency - the ratio of cost to size of audience used to compare media vehicles, plans or schedules.
Exclusivity - an agreement whereby a media vehicle agrees to run no advertising directly competitive to the advertiser purchasing the media vehicle or program.
First Right of Refusal - the opportunity for an advertiser to extend sponsorship rights of a program or vehicle before it is offered to another advertiser.
Fixed Position - an advertising position which remains fixed over time, such as the inside cover of a magazine.
Flighting - a technique for extending advertising dollars using periods of media activity interspersed with periods of inactivity.
Flow Chart - a calendar which dimensionalizes media activity over time, usually a year.
FY - an abbreviation for Fiscal Year.
Gross Impressions - the combined audiences of several media vehicles or several announcements within a vehicle, leaving in the duplication among the audiences.
Gross Rating Points (GRP's) - the sum of individual ratings in a media plan.
Guarantee - a commitment to the advertiser by a medium that should audience delivery fall short of what was estimated, the advertiser will receive bonus advertising to meet the expected CPM or GRP's.
Heavy-up - an increase in advertising activity for a limited period of time.
Hiatus - a scheduled period of inactivity between advertising flights.
Little America (or Little U.S.) - refers to the method of media testing where a national campaign might be tested first in markets that are most similar demographically to the total country.
LNA (Leading National Advertisers) - a syndicated research source reporting advertisers' spending in media: network and spot TV, network radio, magazines, newspaper supplements and outdoor.
Mail-Order Advertising - type of advertising in which the complete sales transaction takes place through the mail.
Makegood - comparable unit of advertising offered at no charge when the original spot or ad did not run or ran incorrectly.
Mediamark Research Inc. (MRI) - a syndicated research source measuring print and broadcast media audiences and product/brand usage profiles.
Net Cost - advertising rates which do not include advertising agency commission and/or include discounts.
Penetration - the degree to which a medium or vehicle has coverage in a specific area. Can also refer to the effectiveness of advertising's impact on consumers.
Per Inquiry (P.I.) - agreement between a media owner and an advertiser where the advertiser pays the owner for advertising on the basis of the number of inquiries or completed sales from the advertising.
Psychographic - describes consumers on the basis of some psychological trait, characteristics or life style.
Quintile - the division of the audience or sample into five equal groups ranging from heaviest to lightest amount of exposure to any medium.
Rate Card a statement by a medium showing advertising costs, issue dates, program names, closing dates, requirements, cancellation dates, etc.
Rating - an estimate of the size of an audience expressed as one percent of the total population.
Reach -the unduplicated percent of a potential audience exposed to advertising one or more times during a given period.
Roll Out - an advertising technique where advertising is expanded to cover more and more markets as distribution/ product sales are also expanded.
Share - the percent of an audience tuned to a particular program at a given time.
Share of Voice (SOV) - a brand's percent of the total advertising weight in its product category.
Short Rate - the cost difference between the discounted contract rate and the higher rate actually earned by an advertiser if he fails to fulfill the contracted amount of advertising.
Simmons Market Research Bureau (SMRB) - a syndicated source of print and broadcast audience measurement, as well as product usage data.
Sponsorship - purchase of all or part of a TV program or all pages of a magazine.
Standard Rate & Data Service (SRDS) - monthly reports of publications', TV and radio stations' rate cards and supporting technical information arranged by state and market.
Starch - a research company providing print advertising readership information.
Telmar - a computer system offering various media planning systems for reach and frequency, as well as cross tabulation of data from Simmons and MRI.
Vehicle - anything capable of exposing advertising to customers.
Digital
Blog - a blend of web log. Part of a web site, usually maintained by individuals with regular entries of commentary, events or other material, including video. Entries are displayed in reverse chronological order.
Bookmark -a routine that allows you to save a reference to a site or page that you have already visited. At a later point in time, you can use a bookmark to return to that page. It commonly refers to a feature of Netscape Navigator (a web browser) that allows you to collect and organize bookmarks of your favorite web sites.
Browser - an application used to view and navigate the World Wide Web and other Internet resources.
Bulletin Board System (BBS) - An open computer system that members can dial into in order to send email, join discussion groups, and download files. Since the 1970s, BBS's have provided an early means for home users to get online. Originally, BBS's were freestanding local systems, but now many provide access to Internet email, telnet, FTP, and other Internet services.
Chat - a form of interactive online communication that enables typed conversations to occur in real-time. When participating in a chat discussion, your messages are instantaneously relayed to other members in the chat room while other members' messages are instantaneously relayed to you.
Congestion - a state occurring in a part of a network when the message traffic is so heavy that it slows down network response time.
Connection - when two computers have established a path through which the exchange of information can occur.
Cookies - small files that are downloaded to your computer when you browse certain web pages. Cookies hold information that can be retrieved by other web pages on the site. Some cookies are programmed with an expiration date so that they are automatically deleted after a period of time.
Copy Protection - a software lock placed on a computer program by its developer to thwart piracy. This preventative measure was widely used in the mid-1980s but later abandoned by many developers because of numerous customer complaints.
Cracker - a malicious hacker who breaks (or cracks) the security of computer systems in order to access, steal, or destroy sensitive information. “Hacker” is often incorrectly used instead of cracker, especially by the media.
CPA - cost per action or cost per acquisition
CPC - cost per click
CPM - cost per thousand impressions
CRM - customer relationship management
CTR - click through rate
Crossload - to send an attached file via email.
Domain Name - the official name of a computer connected to the Internet. Domain names are derived from a hierarchical system, with a host name followed by a top-level domain category. The top-level domain categories are com (for commercial enterprises), org (for non-profit organizations), net (for network services providers), mil (for the military), and gov (for government).
Domain Name System (DNS) - a database system which looks up host IP addresses based upon domain names. For example if you ask for "www.thisismysite.com" it will return 123.45.67.89. Copies of the Domain Name System are distributed through the Internet.
Download - to transfer data from a larger "host" system to a smaller "client" system's hard drive or other local storage device.
Download Charges - monetary charges associated with downloading a file from a commercial online service. This method of information exchange is not very popular.
E-cash - electronic money designed to be used over a network or stored on cards similar to credit cards. E-cash is still more of an idea than a practical reality, largely due to security concerns.
E-form - an electronic form that is filled out by a user and sent over a network. They are typically used to place orders or provide feedback. Eforms can be placed on web pages or in Java applets and usually contain text boxes, buttons, and other components.
Emoticon - a cute sideways face created by using special characters on the keyboard. Used to express emotions without words. For example, this winking face ;-) indicates “I'm joking”, this sad face :-( expresses sadness or “I'm sulking”. If this makes no sense, turn your head sideways and look again. Also known as a “smiley”.
Encryption - a procedure that renders the contents of a message or file unintelligible to anyone not authorized to read it. PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) is a commonly-used encryption program.
Eyeballs - a viewing audience for a WWW site.
Facilitated Chat - in a facilitated chat, a host or facilitator controls the messages that appear on the chat screen. Usually used when there is a guest speaker. Facilitated chats provide an orderly environment for the guest speaker and ensure that she is not overwhelmed with dozens of questions all being asked at once.
FAQ - acronym for Frequently Asked Questions. A reference document created for particular topic or group that answers to common beginners' questions. It is considered poor Netiquette to ask a question without first reading the FAQ.
Flame - a public post or email message that expresses a strong opinion or criticism. Flames can be fun when they allow people to vent their feelings, then return to the topic at hand. Others are simply insulting and can lead to flame wars.
Forum - a topically-focused discussion group or area. From the traditional Roman forum.
FTP - file transfer protocol
Hacker - an expert programmer who likes to spend a lot of time figuring out the finer details of computer systems or networks, as opposed to those who learn only the minimum necessary.
Hit - a single user accessing a single file from a web server. A unit of measure often used erroneously to evaluate the popularity of a web site.
Home Page - a web page that is topically the main source of information about a particular person, group, or concept. Many people on the web create home pages about themselves for fun; these are also known as vanity pages.
Host
1. A computer that allows users to communicate with other host computers on a network.
2. A chat term for someone who is managing a chat. Hosts often act as referees and have the power to turn participants into spectators and vice-versa.
Hyperlink - a highlighted word or picture within a hypertext document that when clicked takes you to another place within the document or to another document altogether.
Hypertext - text that includes links or shortcuts to other documents, allowing the reader to easily jump from one text to related texts, and consequentially from one idea to another, in a non-linear fashion. Coined by Ted Nelson in 1965.
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) - the tag-based ASCII language used to create pages on the World Wide Web.
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) - the protocol used by the World Wide Web to transfer HTML files.
IAB - The IAB educates marketers, agencies, media companies and the wider business community about the value of interactive advertising. Working with its member companies, the IAB evaluates and recommends standards and practices and fields critical research on interactive advertising.
Icon - a small graphic image that represents a file or application and when clicked upon produces a programmed result. Use of this mnemonic convention originated at Xerox PARC and was subsequently popularized by the Apple Macintosh. Producing an effective icon is non-trivial because of size and color restraints.
Identity Hacking - posing as someone else. Posting anonymously or pseudonymously, usually with the intent to deceive.
IMHO - in my humble opinion. Used primarily by writers expressing a debatable view.
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) - A technology offered by telephone carriers that allows for the rapid transfer of voice and data.
Internet - a worldwide network of networks that all use the TCP/IP communications protocol and share a common address space. First incarnated as the ARPANET in 1969, the Internet has metamorphosed from a military internetwork to an academic research internetwork to the current commercial internetwork. It commonly supports services such as email, the World Wide Web, file transfer, and Internet Relay Chat. The Internet is experiencing tremendous growth in the number of users, hosts, and domain names. It is gradually subsuming other media, such as proprietary computer networks, newspapers, books, television, and the telephone. Also known as “the net”, “the information superhighway”, and “cyberspace”.
Internet Explorer - a free web browser application from Microsoft.
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) - A chat network that operates over the Internet. Originally evolved from the UNIX talk program, IRC is similar to the chat systems found on commercial online services.
Internet Service Provider (ISP)
1. A business that delivers access to the Internet, usually for a monthly fee. PSI, UUNET, and Netcom are examples of established ISPs but there are thousands of smaller ones all around the world.
2. Any business that provides Internet services such as web sites or web site development.
Intranet - a private network that uses Internet-related technologies to provide services within an organization.
IP address - a string of four numbers separated by periods (such as 111.22.3.444) used to represent a computer on the Internet. The format of the address is specified by the Internet Protocol in RFC 791. When a PC accesses the Internet through an ISP, it sometimes receives a temporary IP address.
Jack In - to log in to a machine or connect to a network. Derived from cyberpunk fiction.
Java - an object oriented programming language created by Sun Microsystems. Java is a device independent language, meaning that programs compiled in Java can be run on any computer. Java programs can be run as a free-standing application or as an applet placed on a web page. Applets written in Java are served from a web site but executed on the client computer. Java applets have a built-in security feature which prevents them from accessing the file system of the client computer. See also applet. Here is the Java version of “Hello!”: class HelloWorld {public static void main (String args[]) {System.out.println("Hello!"); }}
JavaScript - a scripting language that allows lines of Java code to be inserted into HTML scripts.
Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) - an image compression standard for still photographs that is commonly used on the web.
Kermit - a protocol used for transferring files over a dial-up connection that is commonly used on BBS systems.
Kill File - a file used by some USENET reading programs that filters out unwanted messages, usually from a particular author or on a particular subject. If you add someone to your kill file, you arrange for the person to be ignored by your news reader.
Line Noise - static over a telephone line that interferes with network communications.
Link - a highlighted word or picture within a hypertext document that when clicked bring you to another place within the document or to another document altogether.
List Server - an automated mailing list distribution system. List servers maintain a list of email addresses to be used for mass emailing. Subscribing and unsubscribing to the list is accomplished by sending a properly formatted email message to the list server.
Local Area Network (LAN) - a group of computers at a single location (usually an office or home) that are connected by phone lines or coaxial cable.
Mailbomb - the act of sending massive amounts of email to a single address with the malicious intent of disrupting the system of the recipient. Mailbombing is considered a serious breach of Netiquette and is probably illegal.
Mailing List - a discussion group that occurs via mass email distributions. Mailing lists are usually maintained by individuals utilizing list server software. List servers maintain a list of email addresses to be used for the mailing list. Subscribing and unsubscribing to the list is accomplished by sending a properly formatted email message to the list server.
Meta Tag - a specific kind of HTML tag containing information not displayed to the user.
Mirror Site - a server which contains a duplicate of another WWW or FTP site. Mirror sites are created when the traffic on the original site becomes too heavy for a single server. Often mirror sites are located in different geographic areas allowing users to choose the site closest to them.
Nanosecond - a measurement of time. There are 1,000,000,000 nanoseconds in a second.
Net Lingo - the slang commonly used on the Internet.net.police. Those who feel it's their appointed role to flame perceived violations of Netiquette.
Net Surfing - browsing or exploring a network or the World Wide Web to find places of interest, usually without a specific goal in mind. Analogous to channel surfing with a TV remote control.
Netiquette - network etiquette, or the set of informal rules of behavior that have evolved in Cyberspace, including the Internet and online services.
Netlag - a condition that occurs on the Internet in which response time is greatly slowed due to heavy traffic.
Netnews - the content of USENET.
Network - a group of computers or devices that are connected together for the exchange of data and sharing of resources.
Newsgroup - a public place where messages are posted for public consumption and response. The most available distribution of newsgroups is USENET which contains over ten thousand unique newsgroups covering practically every human proclivity. The names of newsgroups are comprised of a string of words separated by periods, such as “rec.humor.funny” or “misc.jobs.offered”. The first word (i.e. “rec” or “misc”) represents the top level category of newsgroups. The second word (in these examples “humor” and “jobs”) represents a subcategory of the first level, and the third word a subcategory of the second.
Offline - 1. As an adjective, not connected to a computer network. 2. As an adverb, not here or not now, as in “Let's take this discussion offline.” Often used to indicate that a topic should be discussed privately rather than in a public f orum.
Online - 1. Currently connected to a host, opposite of offline. 2. Referring to anything connected to a computer network.
Path - the hierarchical description of where a directory, folder, or file is located on your computer or on a network
PHP - programming language used for creating software that is part of a web site.
Post - to send a message to a public area like a BBS or newsgroup where it can be read by many others.
Postmaster - the name given to the person in charge of administrating email for a particular site. According to convention, mail sent to postmaster@foo.com should be read by a real live person. Protocol|A series of rules and conventions that allow different kinds of computers and applications to communicate over a network.
Query - 1. A general question posed to a person or group over the Internet.Internet users are generally so helpful that if one asks an appropriate query to the correct discussion group, one will often receive many useful responses. One caveat: it is necessary to find and read the appropriate FAQ document first. Failure to do so would be considered a waste other people's time and bandwidth. 2. A request for specific information from a database.
Random Access Memory (RAM) - the working memory of the computer into which application programs can be loaded and executed. It helps to have more of this "working space" installed when running advanced operating systems and applications.
Read Receipts - an optional email feature that notifies you when a recipient has opened the email message you sent him. See also delivery receipts.
Refresh - to clear the screen or part of the screen and reload it again.
Remote Login - operating a remote computer over a network as if it were a local computer.
Response Time - a measurement of the time between a request for information over a network and the network's fulfillment of that request. "Overall response time" is an aggregate or average measurement of various response times over a particular network or through a particular host.
RSS - rich site summary used for sharing content, such as, news articles.
Search Engine a program or web site that enables users to search for keywords on web pages throughout the World Wide Web. For example, Google and bing are popular search engines.
Security - ensuring that private information remains private in an atmosphere where all other information is free. Security also means that viruses are prevented from infecting people's systems.
SEO - search engine optimization
Server - a computer that provides information to client machines. For example, there are web servers that send out web pages, mail servers that deliver email, list servers that administer mailing lists, FTP servers that hold FTP sites and deliver files to users who request them, and name servers that provide information about Internet host names.
Shareware - software that you can download from a network and “try before you buy.” If you like the software and decide to use it beyond the trial period, you must register with the author and pay a registration fee.
Shouting - TYPING IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS IS CONSIDERED SHOUTING IN ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS. Avoid this unless you really mean to shout.
Snail Mail - regular postal mail, as opposed to email. Pejorative when implying postal mail's slowness relative to email.
Spam - to send a message (usually an advertisement) to many discussion groups (bulletin boards, mailing lists, and/or newsgroups), without regard for its topical relevance.
Telecommunications - the science of sending signals representing voice, video, or data through telephone lines.
Thread - 1. A series of postings on a particular topic. Threads can be a series of bulletin board messages (for example, when someone posts a question and others reply with answers or additional queries on the same topic). A thread can also apply to chats, where multiple conversation threads may exist simultaneously.
2. Also refers to an independent process taking place in a multi-tasking environment.
Toggle - 1. A switch that is either on or off. 2. If it is on, to turn it off; if it is off, to turn it on.
Traffic - the load of packets carried by a network or portion of a network. Heavy traffic slows down the response time of the individual packets.
Triple-dub - an abbreviated way to say “WWW” when reciting a URL.
Upload - to send a file to a network.
URL - uniform resource locator. An address on the internet.
Virtual - a commonly used adjective that means having all of the properties of x while not necessarily being x. For example, “virtual Friday” in a workplace is the last day of work before a break, that is to say it is like Friday but may or may not actually be Friday. A “virtual reality” is an artificial environment that appears to be its own reality.
On a mainframe, a “virtual machine” gives the user all of the properties and “feel” of a separate personal computer.
Virus - an insidious piece of computer code written to damage systems. Viruses can be hidden in executable program files posted online.
Webmaster - the person in charge of administrating a World Wide Web site. By convention, the webmaster of Internet domain abc.com can be reached at the email address webmaster@abc.com.
WiFi - wireless fidelity. Popular term for a form of wireless internet.
World Wide Web (WWW) - a distributed hypertext system invented by Tim Berners-Lee on a NeXT Computer. Currently, one of the most popular services offered on the Internet. Web pages are viewed using browsing software like Netscape Navigator, Sun Microsystems Hot Java, or Microsoft Internet Explorer.
Wiki - website for which content can be easily edited and altered.
Worm - 1. An insidious and usually illegal computer program that is designed to replicate itself over a network for the purpose of causing harm and/or destruction. While a virus is designed to invade a single computer's hard drive, a worm is designed to invade a network. The most infamous worm was created by Robert Tappan Morris in November 1988; it infiltrated over 6,000 network systems around the globe.
2. Acronym for “Write Once Read Many”. Used to describe optical disk drives that can only be written once, usually for archival purposes.
Print
Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) - organization of publishers, advertising agencies and advertisers for verifying the circulation statements of member publications.
Advertising Checking Bureau (ACB) - a company which provides advertisers and agencies with newspaper tear sheets of ads which have run.
Agate Line - a unit of measurement for newspaper advertising which measures one column wide with 14 agate lines per inch.
Bleed - a term used for print advertising that extends all the way to the edge of the page with no margin. Many magazines charge a premium for the bleed, usually 15%.
Business Publication Audit of Circulation (BPA) - an organization for auditing the circulation of business (trade) publications.
Checkerboard - magazine advertising that uses diagonal quarter or half page ads alternating with editorial.
Checking Copy - a copy of a publication sent to the advertiser and the agency as proof the ad ran as ordered.
Circulation - the total number of distributed copies of a publication at a specified time. Also, in broadcast, the total number of households within the station's coverage area. In outdoor, the number of people passing the billboards who have an opportunity to see the advertising.
Closing Date - the date by which all advertising must be ordered from the specific media vehicle in order to secure the dates/times/positions requested. The deadline.
Column Inch - a unit of newspaper space one column wide and one inch deep (14 agate lines).
Direct Mail Advertising - any printed material sent through the mail directly to prospective customers.
Double Truck - a newspaper ad unit that uses two facing full pages, including the gutter or fold.
Gutter - the blank space between margins of facing pages of a publication at the fold.
Insertion Order (I.O.) - written instructions from the advertiser or agency authorizing a publication to run a specific advertisement in a specific issue. Also specifies cost per ad and size of ad, as well as any request for special position in the publication and value added benefits.
Island Position - a print advertisement surrounded completely by editorial.
Line Rate - the cost per agate line for newspapers.
Magazine Supplement - the magazine section of a Sunday newspaper produced either locally or nationally.
Net Paid Circulation - a term used by ABC for the circulation of a publication for which at least 50% of the subscription or newsstand price has been paid.
PBW, P4C - abbreviations for Page Black & White and Page Four Color.
Pass-along Audience - readers of magazines or newspapers who did not purchase the publication. Also called Secondary Audience.
Publishers Information Bureau (PIB) - a syndicated source of monthly reports on advertising activity in major consumer magazines, reported by product or service category.
Publisher's Statement - a notarized statement from the publisher of total circulation, geographic distribution, method of getting subscriptions, etc.
Readers Per Copy - average number of readers for one copy of a newspaper or magazine.
Regional Edition - an edition of a national publication's circulation that falls in a certain geographic area for which advertising may be purchased separately, usually at a cost premium.
Remnant Space - magazine space sold at reduced prices at the last minute when another advertiser's materials do not arrive or to fill out regional editions.
Run Of Press or Run Of Paper (ROP) - a newspaper insertion for which an exact position is not requested but left to the newspaper's discretion.
Split Run - scheduling two or more executions of an advertising message in alternate copies of a magazine's circulation in a given issue.
Tabloid - a newspaper measuring about 5-6 columns wide by 200 lines deep, about 2/3 the size of a standard newspaper.
Out of Home
Billboard - an outdoor advertising display. Also, in broadcast, a short 5 or 10 second announcement indicating advertiser sponsorship of a program.
Facing - in outdoor, the number of billboards at a location facing in the same direction. In marketing, the number of units facing the shopper on a shelf in a grocery, drug, discount store. etc.
Poster Panel - the standard outdoor advertising display unit, usually 25' x 12'.
Showing - a group of outdoor boards which provide a certain percent coverage of a market, usually purchased in increments of 25 (e.g. a #25 showing, a #50 showing, a #75 showing, a #100 showing).
Adjacency - an advertising pod positioned next to a particular TV or radio program. Also called commercial break positions.
Affidavit - a statement, usually notarized, accompanying station invoices which confirms that the commercial actually ran at the time stated on the invoice.
Affiliate - a station associated with a network by contract to broadcast the network's programs.
Air Date - the first broadcast of a commercial; also refers to the exact date of a particular TV or radio program.
Availability (“avails”) - unsold units of time available for broadcasters to sell to advertisers. Also refers to a station's submission of programs and rating estimates for advertising planning and buying.
Average Quarter-Hour Rating - the audience estimate reported by Nielsen and Arbitron for television and radio. It provides the average number of persons or households who watched/listened for at least 5 minutes of the 15 minute segment being reported.
Bonus Spot - additional TV or radio spot provided to an advertiser at no charge to raise the overall audience delivery of the schedule.
Break Position - a broadcast commercial aired between two programs instead of in the middle of one program.
Broadcast Calendar - an industry-accepted calendar used mainly for accounting and billing purposes. Weeks run Monday-Sunday, and each month is four or five weeks long.
Cable TV - TV programming that is delivered by coaxial cable rather than over the air for the purposes of improved reception and delivery of additional program choices beyond the local stations.
Clearance - a station's agreement to carry a particular program.
Cost Per Rating Point - The cost of reaching an Average Quarter-Hour Persons audience that's equivalent to one percent of the population in a given demographic group.
[Cost of Schedule] / [GRP] = Cost Per Rating Point or [Spot Cost] / [AQH Rating] = Cost Per Rating Point
Cost Per Thousand (CPM) - The cost of delivering 1,000 gross impressions.
[Cost of Schedule] / [GI] x 1,000 = CPM or [Spot Cost] / [AQH Persons] x 1,000 = CPM
Cume Persons - The total number of different persons who tune to a radio station during the course of a daypart for at least five minutes.
Cume Rating - The Cume Persons audience expressed as a percentage of all persons estimated to be in the specified demographic group.
[Cume Persons / Population] x 100 = Cume Rating (%)
Cut-In - a commercial inserted by the local station that covers the commercial airing at the same time on the network at the advertiser's request. Useful for testing different copy in a limited geography.
Daypart - one of the time segments into which the day is divided by broadcast media, determined by type of programming and who provides it (network or local).
Designated Market Area (DMA) - Nielsen term for geographical areas made up of exclusive counties based on which home market stations receive the predominant share of viewing.
Diary -an instrument for measuring viewing, listening or reading of media vehicles kept by people in a sample.
Drive Time - the dayparts used in radio to signify primary listening being done in cars. Generally considered to be Monday-Friday 6- 10 a.m. and 3-7 p.m. HUT-(Households Using Television) - a broadcast research term indicating the percent of homes with sets on during a specific time period.
Gross Impressions - (GIs)The sum of the Average Quarter-Hour Persons audience for all spots in a given schedule.
[AQH Persons] x [the number of spots in an advertising schedule] = GIs
Gross Rating Points (GRPs) - The sum of all rating points achieved for a particular spot schedule.
[AQH Rating] x [the number of spots in an advertising schedule] = GRPs
ID - station identification of its call letters and location, channel or frequency. Also refers to any commercial message less than ten seconds long.
Infomercial - a long (more than two minutes) commercial providing extensive product/service description and sales information.
Log - chronological record of a station's program and commercial exact air times.
Network - two or more stations joined by a line to broadcast the same program from a few original studios simultaneously.
Network Affiliate - a television or radio station that designates a portion of its air time for network programs.
Nielsen Ratings - Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by the Nielsen Company, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States.
O & O Station - a station owned and operated by a network.
O.T.O. - one time only, usually referring to a TV or radio special program.
Overnights - audience data provided by Nielsen or Arbitron to metered market clients the day after the broadcast.
Pay Per View - a type of Pay TV where viewers are charged each time they watch the special event or movie being broadcast.
Pay TV - a TV system providing programs which are available only to the households who subscribe, usually transmitted via coaxial cable or telephone lines.
Also called "premium channels" on cable, such is HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, Starz, etc.
Persons Using Radio (PUR) - the percent of the area's population listening to radio at a specific time.
Piggyback - back-to-back scheduling of two or more brand commercials of one advertiser in network or spot positions.
Pilot - a sample of a proposed television series.
Pre-emption - the substitution of one advertiser's local TV commercial by another advertiser paying a higher price for the spot, or by a different program of interest.
PVT/PUT (Persons Viewing or Using Television) - the percent of individuals viewing all television stations during a specific time period, indicating total viewing to TV in general, not to a specific program or station.
Rating (AQH or Cume) - The audience expressed as a percentage of the total population.
[Listeners / Population] x 100 = Rating (%)
Roadblocking - a scheduling technique where a brand's commercial airs at approximately the same time on all three networks or on all stations in a given market.
R.O.S. (Run Of Schedule or Run Of Station) - a broadcast schedule, similar to R.O.P. where specific programs and air times have not been requested by the advertiser.
Share - The percentage of those listening to radio in the Metro who are listening to a particular radio station.
[AQH Persons to a Station / AQH Persons to All Stations] x 100 = Share (%)
Simulcast - broadcast of the same program at the same time on both AM and FM radio stations. Can also refer to a radio station simultaneously broadcasting the audio portion of a TV program.
Spill-In - the amount of programming viewed within a market area to stations that are licensed to an adjacent market.
Spill-Out - the amount of viewing to local stations outside the home market area.
Strip - a program scheduled at the same time each day, typically Monday-Friday.
Superstation - an independent station whose signal is transmitted to many markets via a satellite.
Sweeps - the four 4-week periods when all TV markets are measured by Nielsen and Arbitron for station viewing and demographic information. Sweep months are February, May, July and November.
Syndicated Program - a program bought by a station or advertiser from an independent organization, not a network.
TAP (Total Audience Plan) - a radio schedule consisting of equal distribution of commercials across all major dayparts.
Time Spent Listening (TSL) - An estimate of the number of quarter-hours the average person spends listening during a specified time period.
[(Quarter-Hours in a time period) x (AQH Persons)] / Cume Audience = TSL
Turnover - the ratio of a cumulative audience to the average audience for a given period of time. Indicates how loyal a given audience may be for specific stations or programs.
Upfront - a term indicating that an advertiser has purchased advertising for the coming broadcast year in an early buying season, typically for the benefit of lower rates and CPM guarantees.
General Media Terms
Advertising Impressions -the audience delivery of media vehicles, programs or schedules. Usually expressed as thousands (000).
Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) - a non-profit organization of advertisers, agencies and the media for promoting advertising effectiveness through objective research.
Advertising Weight - the level of advertising support over a period of time, expressed in gross rating points, impressions, target audience reached, etc.
Aided Recall - a research technique where the respondent is given aid to help remember all or parts of advertising.
As It Falls - a testing method whereby the media test market receives the same media weight, purchased locally, as it would receive from a national theoretical plan.
Average Frequency - the number of times the average person or household is exposed to an advertising schedule. It is always derived from Gross Rating Points and Reach.
Barter - a term used to indicate that advertising was paid for by the advertiser using goods and services rather than cash.
BDI (Brand Development Index) - a measure of the strength of a brand's sales in a particular geographic area indexed to the national sales average.
CDI (Category Development Index) - a measurement of a brand's sales potential using sales of all brands within a category in a specific market indexed to national sales average.
Clutter - the term given to the proliferation of advertising messages aimed at consumers. In TV, it refers to all non-program minutes, such as commercials, station promotions, billboards, public service announcements, etc.
Cost Per Rating Point (Cost Per Point, CPP, Cost Per GRP) - the cost to reach one percent of the universe, households or individuals, in a given market or geographic area.
Cost Per Thousand (CPM) - the cost to reach 1,000 units of audience, households or individuals, for advertising. Used as a measure of efficiency among media and media schedules.
Coverage Area - the specific geography where a media vehicle has its coverage. In broadcast, coverage usually describes the area to which the station's signal extends. In print, coverage usually means the circulation area.
Cume (Cumulative Audience) - another way of expressing reach. The total number of different people or households exposed to advertising at least once during the media schedule.
Demographics - the most recent statistical characteristics of a population. These types of data are used widely in sociology (and especially in the subfield of demography), public policy and marketing. Commonly examined demographics include gender, race, age, disabilities, mobility, home ownership, employment status, education and even location.
Direct Response Advertising - any advertising message that calls for a prompt response to purchase a product or request more information.
Display Advertising - Print advertising that is intended to attract attention and communicate easily through the use of space, illustrations, layout, headline, and so on, as opposed to classified advertising.
Duplication - the number or percent of the target audience in one media vehicle also exposed to another vehicle.
Efficiency - the ratio of cost to size of audience used to compare media vehicles, plans or schedules.
Exclusivity - an agreement whereby a media vehicle agrees to run no advertising directly competitive to the advertiser purchasing the media vehicle or program.
First Right of Refusal - the opportunity for an advertiser to extend sponsorship rights of a program or vehicle before it is offered to another advertiser.
Fixed Position - an advertising position which remains fixed over time, such as the inside cover of a magazine.
Flighting - a technique for extending advertising dollars using periods of media activity interspersed with periods of inactivity.
Flow Chart - a calendar which dimensionalizes media activity over time, usually a year.
FY - an abbreviation for Fiscal Year.
Gross Impressions - the combined audiences of several media vehicles or several announcements within a vehicle, leaving in the duplication among the audiences.
Gross Rating Points (GRP's) - the sum of individual ratings in a media plan.
Guarantee - a commitment to the advertiser by a medium that should audience delivery fall short of what was estimated, the advertiser will receive bonus advertising to meet the expected CPM or GRP's.
Heavy-up - an increase in advertising activity for a limited period of time.
Hiatus - a scheduled period of inactivity between advertising flights.
Little America (or Little U.S.) - refers to the method of media testing where a national campaign might be tested first in markets that are most similar demographically to the total country.
LNA (Leading National Advertisers) - a syndicated research source reporting advertisers' spending in media: network and spot TV, network radio, magazines, newspaper supplements and outdoor.
Mail-Order Advertising - type of advertising in which the complete sales transaction takes place through the mail.
Makegood - comparable unit of advertising offered at no charge when the original spot or ad did not run or ran incorrectly.
Mediamark Research Inc. (MRI) - a syndicated research source measuring print and broadcast media audiences and product/brand usage profiles.
Net Cost - advertising rates which do not include advertising agency commission and/or include discounts.
Penetration - the degree to which a medium or vehicle has coverage in a specific area. Can also refer to the effectiveness of advertising's impact on consumers.
Per Inquiry (P.I.) - agreement between a media owner and an advertiser where the advertiser pays the owner for advertising on the basis of the number of inquiries or completed sales from the advertising.
Psychographic - describes consumers on the basis of some psychological trait, characteristics or life style.
Quintile - the division of the audience or sample into five equal groups ranging from heaviest to lightest amount of exposure to any medium.
Rate Card a statement by a medium showing advertising costs, issue dates, program names, closing dates, requirements, cancellation dates, etc.
Rating - an estimate of the size of an audience expressed as one percent of the total population.
Reach -the unduplicated percent of a potential audience exposed to advertising one or more times during a given period.
Roll Out - an advertising technique where advertising is expanded to cover more and more markets as distribution/ product sales are also expanded.
Share - the percent of an audience tuned to a particular program at a given time.
Share of Voice (SOV) - a brand's percent of the total advertising weight in its product category.
Short Rate - the cost difference between the discounted contract rate and the higher rate actually earned by an advertiser if he fails to fulfill the contracted amount of advertising.
Simmons Market Research Bureau (SMRB) - a syndicated source of print and broadcast audience measurement, as well as product usage data.
Sponsorship - purchase of all or part of a TV program or all pages of a magazine.
Standard Rate & Data Service (SRDS) - monthly reports of publications', TV and radio stations' rate cards and supporting technical information arranged by state and market.
Starch - a research company providing print advertising readership information.
Telmar - a computer system offering various media planning systems for reach and frequency, as well as cross tabulation of data from Simmons and MRI.
Vehicle - anything capable of exposing advertising to customers.
Digital
Blog - a blend of web log. Part of a web site, usually maintained by individuals with regular entries of commentary, events or other material, including video. Entries are displayed in reverse chronological order.
Bookmark -a routine that allows you to save a reference to a site or page that you have already visited. At a later point in time, you can use a bookmark to return to that page. It commonly refers to a feature of Netscape Navigator (a web browser) that allows you to collect and organize bookmarks of your favorite web sites.
Browser - an application used to view and navigate the World Wide Web and other Internet resources.
Bulletin Board System (BBS) - An open computer system that members can dial into in order to send email, join discussion groups, and download files. Since the 1970s, BBS's have provided an early means for home users to get online. Originally, BBS's were freestanding local systems, but now many provide access to Internet email, telnet, FTP, and other Internet services.
Chat - a form of interactive online communication that enables typed conversations to occur in real-time. When participating in a chat discussion, your messages are instantaneously relayed to other members in the chat room while other members' messages are instantaneously relayed to you.
Congestion - a state occurring in a part of a network when the message traffic is so heavy that it slows down network response time.
Connection - when two computers have established a path through which the exchange of information can occur.
Cookies - small files that are downloaded to your computer when you browse certain web pages. Cookies hold information that can be retrieved by other web pages on the site. Some cookies are programmed with an expiration date so that they are automatically deleted after a period of time.
Copy Protection - a software lock placed on a computer program by its developer to thwart piracy. This preventative measure was widely used in the mid-1980s but later abandoned by many developers because of numerous customer complaints.
Cracker - a malicious hacker who breaks (or cracks) the security of computer systems in order to access, steal, or destroy sensitive information. “Hacker” is often incorrectly used instead of cracker, especially by the media.
CPA - cost per action or cost per acquisition
CPC - cost per click
CPM - cost per thousand impressions
CRM - customer relationship management
CTR - click through rate
Crossload - to send an attached file via email.
Domain Name - the official name of a computer connected to the Internet. Domain names are derived from a hierarchical system, with a host name followed by a top-level domain category. The top-level domain categories are com (for commercial enterprises), org (for non-profit organizations), net (for network services providers), mil (for the military), and gov (for government).
Domain Name System (DNS) - a database system which looks up host IP addresses based upon domain names. For example if you ask for "www.thisismysite.com" it will return 123.45.67.89. Copies of the Domain Name System are distributed through the Internet.
Download - to transfer data from a larger "host" system to a smaller "client" system's hard drive or other local storage device.
Download Charges - monetary charges associated with downloading a file from a commercial online service. This method of information exchange is not very popular.
E-cash - electronic money designed to be used over a network or stored on cards similar to credit cards. E-cash is still more of an idea than a practical reality, largely due to security concerns.
E-form - an electronic form that is filled out by a user and sent over a network. They are typically used to place orders or provide feedback. Eforms can be placed on web pages or in Java applets and usually contain text boxes, buttons, and other components.
Emoticon - a cute sideways face created by using special characters on the keyboard. Used to express emotions without words. For example, this winking face ;-) indicates “I'm joking”, this sad face :-( expresses sadness or “I'm sulking”. If this makes no sense, turn your head sideways and look again. Also known as a “smiley”.
Encryption - a procedure that renders the contents of a message or file unintelligible to anyone not authorized to read it. PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) is a commonly-used encryption program.
Eyeballs - a viewing audience for a WWW site.
Facilitated Chat - in a facilitated chat, a host or facilitator controls the messages that appear on the chat screen. Usually used when there is a guest speaker. Facilitated chats provide an orderly environment for the guest speaker and ensure that she is not overwhelmed with dozens of questions all being asked at once.
FAQ - acronym for Frequently Asked Questions. A reference document created for particular topic or group that answers to common beginners' questions. It is considered poor Netiquette to ask a question without first reading the FAQ.
Flame - a public post or email message that expresses a strong opinion or criticism. Flames can be fun when they allow people to vent their feelings, then return to the topic at hand. Others are simply insulting and can lead to flame wars.
Forum - a topically-focused discussion group or area. From the traditional Roman forum.
FTP - file transfer protocol
Hacker - an expert programmer who likes to spend a lot of time figuring out the finer details of computer systems or networks, as opposed to those who learn only the minimum necessary.
Hit - a single user accessing a single file from a web server. A unit of measure often used erroneously to evaluate the popularity of a web site.
Home Page - a web page that is topically the main source of information about a particular person, group, or concept. Many people on the web create home pages about themselves for fun; these are also known as vanity pages.
Host
1. A computer that allows users to communicate with other host computers on a network.
2. A chat term for someone who is managing a chat. Hosts often act as referees and have the power to turn participants into spectators and vice-versa.
Hyperlink - a highlighted word or picture within a hypertext document that when clicked takes you to another place within the document or to another document altogether.
Hypertext - text that includes links or shortcuts to other documents, allowing the reader to easily jump from one text to related texts, and consequentially from one idea to another, in a non-linear fashion. Coined by Ted Nelson in 1965.
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) - the tag-based ASCII language used to create pages on the World Wide Web.
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) - the protocol used by the World Wide Web to transfer HTML files.
IAB - The IAB educates marketers, agencies, media companies and the wider business community about the value of interactive advertising. Working with its member companies, the IAB evaluates and recommends standards and practices and fields critical research on interactive advertising.
Icon - a small graphic image that represents a file or application and when clicked upon produces a programmed result. Use of this mnemonic convention originated at Xerox PARC and was subsequently popularized by the Apple Macintosh. Producing an effective icon is non-trivial because of size and color restraints.
Identity Hacking - posing as someone else. Posting anonymously or pseudonymously, usually with the intent to deceive.
IMHO - in my humble opinion. Used primarily by writers expressing a debatable view.
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) - A technology offered by telephone carriers that allows for the rapid transfer of voice and data.
Internet - a worldwide network of networks that all use the TCP/IP communications protocol and share a common address space. First incarnated as the ARPANET in 1969, the Internet has metamorphosed from a military internetwork to an academic research internetwork to the current commercial internetwork. It commonly supports services such as email, the World Wide Web, file transfer, and Internet Relay Chat. The Internet is experiencing tremendous growth in the number of users, hosts, and domain names. It is gradually subsuming other media, such as proprietary computer networks, newspapers, books, television, and the telephone. Also known as “the net”, “the information superhighway”, and “cyberspace”.
Internet Explorer - a free web browser application from Microsoft.
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) - A chat network that operates over the Internet. Originally evolved from the UNIX talk program, IRC is similar to the chat systems found on commercial online services.
Internet Service Provider (ISP)
1. A business that delivers access to the Internet, usually for a monthly fee. PSI, UUNET, and Netcom are examples of established ISPs but there are thousands of smaller ones all around the world.
2. Any business that provides Internet services such as web sites or web site development.
Intranet - a private network that uses Internet-related technologies to provide services within an organization.
IP address - a string of four numbers separated by periods (such as 111.22.3.444) used to represent a computer on the Internet. The format of the address is specified by the Internet Protocol in RFC 791. When a PC accesses the Internet through an ISP, it sometimes receives a temporary IP address.
Jack In - to log in to a machine or connect to a network. Derived from cyberpunk fiction.
Java - an object oriented programming language created by Sun Microsystems. Java is a device independent language, meaning that programs compiled in Java can be run on any computer. Java programs can be run as a free-standing application or as an applet placed on a web page. Applets written in Java are served from a web site but executed on the client computer. Java applets have a built-in security feature which prevents them from accessing the file system of the client computer. See also applet. Here is the Java version of “Hello!”: class HelloWorld {public static void main (String args[]) {System.out.println("Hello!"); }}
JavaScript - a scripting language that allows lines of Java code to be inserted into HTML scripts.
Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) - an image compression standard for still photographs that is commonly used on the web.
Kermit - a protocol used for transferring files over a dial-up connection that is commonly used on BBS systems.
Kill File - a file used by some USENET reading programs that filters out unwanted messages, usually from a particular author or on a particular subject. If you add someone to your kill file, you arrange for the person to be ignored by your news reader.
Line Noise - static over a telephone line that interferes with network communications.
Link - a highlighted word or picture within a hypertext document that when clicked bring you to another place within the document or to another document altogether.
List Server - an automated mailing list distribution system. List servers maintain a list of email addresses to be used for mass emailing. Subscribing and unsubscribing to the list is accomplished by sending a properly formatted email message to the list server.
Local Area Network (LAN) - a group of computers at a single location (usually an office or home) that are connected by phone lines or coaxial cable.
Mailbomb - the act of sending massive amounts of email to a single address with the malicious intent of disrupting the system of the recipient. Mailbombing is considered a serious breach of Netiquette and is probably illegal.
Mailing List - a discussion group that occurs via mass email distributions. Mailing lists are usually maintained by individuals utilizing list server software. List servers maintain a list of email addresses to be used for the mailing list. Subscribing and unsubscribing to the list is accomplished by sending a properly formatted email message to the list server.
Meta Tag - a specific kind of HTML tag containing information not displayed to the user.
Mirror Site - a server which contains a duplicate of another WWW or FTP site. Mirror sites are created when the traffic on the original site becomes too heavy for a single server. Often mirror sites are located in different geographic areas allowing users to choose the site closest to them.
Nanosecond - a measurement of time. There are 1,000,000,000 nanoseconds in a second.
Net Lingo - the slang commonly used on the Internet.net.police. Those who feel it's their appointed role to flame perceived violations of Netiquette.
Net Surfing - browsing or exploring a network or the World Wide Web to find places of interest, usually without a specific goal in mind. Analogous to channel surfing with a TV remote control.
Netiquette - network etiquette, or the set of informal rules of behavior that have evolved in Cyberspace, including the Internet and online services.
Netlag - a condition that occurs on the Internet in which response time is greatly slowed due to heavy traffic.
Netnews - the content of USENET.
Network - a group of computers or devices that are connected together for the exchange of data and sharing of resources.
Newsgroup - a public place where messages are posted for public consumption and response. The most available distribution of newsgroups is USENET which contains over ten thousand unique newsgroups covering practically every human proclivity. The names of newsgroups are comprised of a string of words separated by periods, such as “rec.humor.funny” or “misc.jobs.offered”. The first word (i.e. “rec” or “misc”) represents the top level category of newsgroups. The second word (in these examples “humor” and “jobs”) represents a subcategory of the first level, and the third word a subcategory of the second.
Offline - 1. As an adjective, not connected to a computer network. 2. As an adverb, not here or not now, as in “Let's take this discussion offline.” Often used to indicate that a topic should be discussed privately rather than in a public f orum.
Online - 1. Currently connected to a host, opposite of offline. 2. Referring to anything connected to a computer network.
Path - the hierarchical description of where a directory, folder, or file is located on your computer or on a network
PHP - programming language used for creating software that is part of a web site.
Post - to send a message to a public area like a BBS or newsgroup where it can be read by many others.
Postmaster - the name given to the person in charge of administrating email for a particular site. According to convention, mail sent to postmaster@foo.com should be read by a real live person. Protocol|A series of rules and conventions that allow different kinds of computers and applications to communicate over a network.
Query - 1. A general question posed to a person or group over the Internet.Internet users are generally so helpful that if one asks an appropriate query to the correct discussion group, one will often receive many useful responses. One caveat: it is necessary to find and read the appropriate FAQ document first. Failure to do so would be considered a waste other people's time and bandwidth. 2. A request for specific information from a database.
Random Access Memory (RAM) - the working memory of the computer into which application programs can be loaded and executed. It helps to have more of this "working space" installed when running advanced operating systems and applications.
Read Receipts - an optional email feature that notifies you when a recipient has opened the email message you sent him. See also delivery receipts.
Refresh - to clear the screen or part of the screen and reload it again.
Remote Login - operating a remote computer over a network as if it were a local computer.
Response Time - a measurement of the time between a request for information over a network and the network's fulfillment of that request. "Overall response time" is an aggregate or average measurement of various response times over a particular network or through a particular host.
RSS - rich site summary used for sharing content, such as, news articles.
Search Engine a program or web site that enables users to search for keywords on web pages throughout the World Wide Web. For example, Google and bing are popular search engines.
Security - ensuring that private information remains private in an atmosphere where all other information is free. Security also means that viruses are prevented from infecting people's systems.
SEO - search engine optimization
Server - a computer that provides information to client machines. For example, there are web servers that send out web pages, mail servers that deliver email, list servers that administer mailing lists, FTP servers that hold FTP sites and deliver files to users who request them, and name servers that provide information about Internet host names.
Shareware - software that you can download from a network and “try before you buy.” If you like the software and decide to use it beyond the trial period, you must register with the author and pay a registration fee.
Shouting - TYPING IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS IS CONSIDERED SHOUTING IN ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS. Avoid this unless you really mean to shout.
Snail Mail - regular postal mail, as opposed to email. Pejorative when implying postal mail's slowness relative to email.
Spam - to send a message (usually an advertisement) to many discussion groups (bulletin boards, mailing lists, and/or newsgroups), without regard for its topical relevance.
Telecommunications - the science of sending signals representing voice, video, or data through telephone lines.
Thread - 1. A series of postings on a particular topic. Threads can be a series of bulletin board messages (for example, when someone posts a question and others reply with answers or additional queries on the same topic). A thread can also apply to chats, where multiple conversation threads may exist simultaneously.
2. Also refers to an independent process taking place in a multi-tasking environment.
Toggle - 1. A switch that is either on or off. 2. If it is on, to turn it off; if it is off, to turn it on.
Traffic - the load of packets carried by a network or portion of a network. Heavy traffic slows down the response time of the individual packets.
Triple-dub - an abbreviated way to say “WWW” when reciting a URL.
Upload - to send a file to a network.
URL - uniform resource locator. An address on the internet.
Virtual - a commonly used adjective that means having all of the properties of x while not necessarily being x. For example, “virtual Friday” in a workplace is the last day of work before a break, that is to say it is like Friday but may or may not actually be Friday. A “virtual reality” is an artificial environment that appears to be its own reality.
On a mainframe, a “virtual machine” gives the user all of the properties and “feel” of a separate personal computer.
Virus - an insidious piece of computer code written to damage systems. Viruses can be hidden in executable program files posted online.
Webmaster - the person in charge of administrating a World Wide Web site. By convention, the webmaster of Internet domain abc.com can be reached at the email address webmaster@abc.com.
WiFi - wireless fidelity. Popular term for a form of wireless internet.
World Wide Web (WWW) - a distributed hypertext system invented by Tim Berners-Lee on a NeXT Computer. Currently, one of the most popular services offered on the Internet. Web pages are viewed using browsing software like Netscape Navigator, Sun Microsystems Hot Java, or Microsoft Internet Explorer.
Wiki - website for which content can be easily edited and altered.
Worm - 1. An insidious and usually illegal computer program that is designed to replicate itself over a network for the purpose of causing harm and/or destruction. While a virus is designed to invade a single computer's hard drive, a worm is designed to invade a network. The most infamous worm was created by Robert Tappan Morris in November 1988; it infiltrated over 6,000 network systems around the globe.
2. Acronym for “Write Once Read Many”. Used to describe optical disk drives that can only be written once, usually for archival purposes.
Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) - organization of publishers, advertising agencies and advertisers for verifying the circulation statements of member publications.
Advertising Checking Bureau (ACB) - a company which provides advertisers and agencies with newspaper tear sheets of ads which have run.
Agate Line - a unit of measurement for newspaper advertising which measures one column wide with 14 agate lines per inch.
Bleed - a term used for print advertising that extends all the way to the edge of the page with no margin. Many magazines charge a premium for the bleed, usually 15%.
Business Publication Audit of Circulation (BPA) - an organization for auditing the circulation of business (trade) publications.
Checkerboard - magazine advertising that uses diagonal quarter or half page ads alternating with editorial.
Checking Copy - a copy of a publication sent to the advertiser and the agency as proof the ad ran as ordered.
Circulation - the total number of distributed copies of a publication at a specified time. Also, in broadcast, the total number of households within the station's coverage area. In outdoor, the number of people passing the billboards who have an opportunity to see the advertising.
Closing Date - the date by which all advertising must be ordered from the specific media vehicle in order to secure the dates/times/positions requested. The deadline.
Column Inch - a unit of newspaper space one column wide and one inch deep (14 agate lines).
Direct Mail Advertising - any printed material sent through the mail directly to prospective customers.
Double Truck - a newspaper ad unit that uses two facing full pages, including the gutter or fold.
Gutter - the blank space between margins of facing pages of a publication at the fold.
Insertion Order (I.O.) - written instructions from the advertiser or agency authorizing a publication to run a specific advertisement in a specific issue. Also specifies cost per ad and size of ad, as well as any request for special position in the publication and value added benefits.
Island Position - a print advertisement surrounded completely by editorial.
Line Rate - the cost per agate line for newspapers.
Magazine Supplement - the magazine section of a Sunday newspaper produced either locally or nationally.
Net Paid Circulation - a term used by ABC for the circulation of a publication for which at least 50% of the subscription or newsstand price has been paid.
PBW, P4C - abbreviations for Page Black & White and Page Four Color.
Pass-along Audience - readers of magazines or newspapers who did not purchase the publication. Also called Secondary Audience.
Publishers Information Bureau (PIB) - a syndicated source of monthly reports on advertising activity in major consumer magazines, reported by product or service category.
Publisher's Statement - a notarized statement from the publisher of total circulation, geographic distribution, method of getting subscriptions, etc.
Readers Per Copy - average number of readers for one copy of a newspaper or magazine.
Regional Edition - an edition of a national publication's circulation that falls in a certain geographic area for which advertising may be purchased separately, usually at a cost premium.
Remnant Space - magazine space sold at reduced prices at the last minute when another advertiser's materials do not arrive or to fill out regional editions.
Run Of Press or Run Of Paper (ROP) - a newspaper insertion for which an exact position is not requested but left to the newspaper's discretion.
Split Run - scheduling two or more executions of an advertising message in alternate copies of a magazine's circulation in a given issue.
Tabloid - a newspaper measuring about 5-6 columns wide by 200 lines deep, about 2/3 the size of a standard newspaper.
Out of Home
Billboard - an outdoor advertising display. Also, in broadcast, a short 5 or 10 second announcement indicating advertiser sponsorship of a program.
Facing - in outdoor, the number of billboards at a location facing in the same direction. In marketing, the number of units facing the shopper on a shelf in a grocery, drug, discount store. etc.
Poster Panel - the standard outdoor advertising display unit, usually 25' x 12'.
Showing - a group of outdoor boards which provide a certain percent coverage of a market, usually purchased in increments of 25 (e.g. a #25 showing, a #50 showing, a #75 showing, a #100 showing).