Fish Stories

also known as interstitial, this is a preliminary page that precedes the home page of a Web site and usually stresses a particular site feature or shows advertising. The splash page is timed to move automatically to the home page after a short span of time.

an advertiser who’s ads have helped sustain a Web site.  A sponsor may support a special feature of a site, such as a writer’s column, or a series of presentations on a given topic.

purchasing ad space in sites and within sites to match a campaign with a specific user demographic.

a unit counted when a user’s unique address enters or reenter a Web site during a specified time period.

a person who visits a Web site more than once within a specified period of time. Software that tracks and counts Web site traffic can distinguish between visitors who only visit the site once and unique visitors who return to the site. Unique visitors are measured according to their unique IP addresses, which are like online fingerprints, and unique visitors are counted only once no matter how many times they visit the site.

Visit – a unit counted when a user’s unique address enters a Web site for the first time in a given day (or a different time specified). The number of visits is about the number of different users who visit a site in the specified time frame. This term is ambiguous unless the user defines it, since it could mean a user session or it could mean a unique visitor that day.

e-mail that a user has chosen to receive by filling out a Web site’s form and choosing which categories/subjects/products are of interest.  E-mails of those who opt in are sold to a company who compiles and sorts the e-mail lists, then sells them to advertisers, at which point the original Web site is paid a small fee per e-mail address.

in contrast to advertising fees based on impressions, advertisers may arrange to pay for each click.

when the advertiser pays for each sales lead generated (generally meaning someone has filled out a form).

Pay-per-sale:
when a user clicks a link from one Website to a product on another and makes a purchase, the first Website gets a fee.  This it typical for affiliate programs.

the prevalent method of payment formula for larger Web sites.

a report, generally weekly, stating which ads appeared on which sites and how often.  Unlike print media, there can be no tear sheets  and each user sees different ads in different rotations, so there is no simple way to see that an ad has been placed.  Using reputable brokers on reputable Web sites with reports is recommended.

personal-interest information gathered by Web sites who ask users to list sites they visit.  This helps advertisers determine the suitability of a site for their ads.

there are not yet any industry standards for reporting data for Internet advertising.  ZimmerFish helps you understand your results.

ads which are more complex or interactive than a simple image.  These  enhanced banner ads may include pop-up menus (so a user can choose a link), video, or other extra visual element.

return on investment…results relative to the dollars invested.  This might be sales, but could also be leads, registrants or other criteria the advertiser has defined. As we always say at ZimmerFish—no results, no point.

an ad placed to run on all sites within a given network of sites.

an ad placed to rotate on all non featured ad spaces on a given site. Placement rates are generally less for these than for specifically placed ads.

information about the size and characteristics of a certain population (for example; age, gender, income level, purchasing history, personal preferences etc.)

immediate analysis of a user Web page request to determine which ad(s)

taken from print/newspaper, this is the area which immediately appears when a Web page opens, no scrolling necessary. User screen resolution settings(640 x 480 pixels or 800 x 600 pixels) will affect the fold area, so graphics and information need to be placed accordingly.

the sending of a single file (an HTML file, image, audio or other file type). Since a single Web page has many files, hits are not accurate indicators of the number of visitors to a page

the appearance of an ad on a Web page when. This means each time a user opens a Web page and that ad appears. Most Web advertising is sold by price per 1,000 impressions (CPM – cost per thousand). A good ad will have branding impact as well as lead to click-throughs to specific destinations.

a printed order to run an ad campaign, identifying the campaign name, the Web site receiving the order and the buyer placing the order. Included are the ads (or information about who will provide them), the ad sizes, the campaign begin/end dates, the cost per thousand impressions, the total cost, any discounts to be applied and reporting requirements. Penalties for failure to deliver the impressions may be stipulated.

the total number of ad views/impressions that a Web site has available to sell during a given period of time (typically figured per month).

one who selects Web sites for ad placement based on demographics and other factors determined by the advertiser and agency.

an action (clicking on an ad or video, not just viewing it) taken by a user (anyone using the Internet) toward a desired Web destination. The action counts as a click whether the user waits to reach that destination or not.

the record of a user’s sequence of clicks on links through a site or sites.  This is vital information for understanding the effectiveness of various advertising and site elements.

essentially the same as click, but the user arrives at the desired Web page or product.  It indicates an ad’s effectiveness and results in a viewer getting to the advertiser’s Web site, where messages are provided.

the percentage of ad views that result in clickthroughs. Clickthrough rate will depend on the audience/message match and whether the ad entices (leading toward an offer or further information).  The clickthrough rate for an ad diminishes  with repeated exposure.

tying one product or service with another, so that two entities/brands appear as a joint enterprise.

a file on a Web user’s hard drive that stores information about that user’s Web activity. Some software can access this information to see which ad a user has seen and adjust the ad rotation accordingly.

what an advertiser pays when a visitor takes a specific action beyond clicking on an ad, such as then subscribing to a newsletter or clicking on yet another link.

a more specific form of cost-per-action, where the visitor provides enough information to be used as a sales lead.

an industry standard for selling Web ads.  (M is the Roman numeral for 1,000).

The Internet is still a relatively young medium for advertising.  Like any medium, it comes with it’s own language.  In order to make good decisions and be able to compare apples to kumquats; to discuss your options with you, we all need to understand this language.

Today, and for several subsequent entries, let’s look at some key terms.  We’ll keep it short, so it sticks, and alphabetical, for easy reference later.

for use on the Web, and AD is generally a banner.  This is simply a graphic image (or set of images which are animated, called and animated GIF) of specific pixel dimensions.

AD ROTATION:
A Web site has a slot in which ads are placed (AD SPACE).  Various ads take turns in that slot – are rotated in the space.  This is usually done automatically by the Web site software.

AD VIEW:
Also called IMPRESSION. One view is counted for each time an ad appears on display to a viewer.

AFFILIATE MARKETING:
Web sites often offer ad space for other Web sites (affiliates).  There is generally some tie-in of product or market. Amazon.com created the first large-scale affiliate program.

BANNER:
a graphic image that typically runs across a Web page or in a margin. Animated banner ads have been shown to attract a larger percentage of user clicks.

BOOKED SPACE:
the number of available ad views on a Web site, that have already been sold out

Matching the message of your online ad to the message of the linked landing page is post-click marketing 101. While true for all internet media, its paramount for mobile.

Your landing page needs to directly address the reason your user came to you in the first place. It must be clear,concise, and to the point.

Engage users with choices (links to other pages), leading them down the path toward your desired location and action.