Internet Marketing Glossary

What does it all mean? If you're referring to internet marketing, this may be a question after running into various acronyms or terms that Webster's doesn't define.

If you encounter an unfamiliar internet marketing term not included in our glossary, please contact us so that we may keep these listings as current as possible.

All definitions are in the context of internet marketing.

Affiliate

A person or company who promotes a product or service for another website or company, normally not directly under their control. Generally receives compensation for a sale or action, known as a commission.

Affiliate Network

A site or company that represents multiple affiliate programs. For publishers, the benefit of joining an affiliate network is access to several affiliate programs through one site. For advertisers, the benefit of joining an affiliate network is immediate access to a large group of publishers.

B2B

Business to business. Can refer to products, services, websites or advertisements.

B2C

Business to consumer. Can refer to products, services, websites or advertisements.

Blog

A type of website to share thoughts, information and web links on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Blog entries normally appear in chronological order, with the most recent entry displayed first. Most blog software and blog hosting companies allow entries to be categorized.

CPA

Cost Per Action. A type of publisher program, CPA programs pay publishers based on user actions such as completing a form, making a purchase, or completing a series of actions. An example of a cost per action program would be a credit card company which pays publishers for every user they refer who applies for and is approved to receive a credit card.

CPC

Cost Per Click.  A type of publisher program, CPC programs pay publishers based on clicks to text link advertisements or images. CPC advertising is most common with contextual and search based ad serving. An example of a cost per click program would be a candle retailer which pays publishers for every click on a text ad about candles.

CPL

Cost Per Lead. A type of publisher program, CPL programs pay publishers based on user actions which normally require less user participation than CPA programs, but more than CPC or CPM programs. An example of  a cost per lead program would be an auto insurance company which pays publishers for every user they refer who submits their email address for a free quote.

CPM

Cost Per Thousand (M being the Roman numeral for 1000). A type of publisher program, CPM programs pay publishers based on passive user interactions like page views or impressions. An example of a cost per thousand program would be a movie studio which pays publishers for every user who views their banner for a new film.

CPS

Cost Per Sale. A type of publisher program, CPS programs pay publishers based on user sales. An example of a cost per sale program would be a handbag company which pays publishers for every user who purchases a handbag.

Click Fraud

The practice of artificially increasing the number of clicks on an advertisement. This can include automated programs designed to click ads without a human viewing them, or humans clicking ads repeatedly to increase the cost to Pay Per Click advertisers. Most large Pay Per Click advertising networks have some sort of review process to screen for click fraud. Large and small networks will usually conduct a manual review if suspicions of click fraud are brought to their attention.

Deliverability

Refers to the amount of emails which are delivered to inboxes, versus those which are filtered out by email service providers. A 75% deliverability rate would mean only 75% of sent emails appeared in the recipients' inboxes. It is assumed the other 25% were filtered out and not delivered, or delivered to bulk mail folders where they are less likely to be opened.

Linkbait

Content designed to attract links from other sites. Linkbait can be an article, image or web application.

Monetize

To add a revenue method to a website. For example, a free service could monetize users by displaying banner advertising.

Pay Per Click or PPC

Advertisements which are priced according to user clicks. Rather than paying for passive user interaction such as views or visits, advertisers are only charged when users express interest by clicking a text link or image. Publishers or affiliates who promote pay per click advertisements are only paid when an ad on their site is clicked on. Popular Pay Per Click advertising networks include Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing (formerly Overture) and MSN AdCenter. There are smaller networks and some affiliate programs which also offer pay per click pricing. A common concern among pay per click advertiser is click fraud.

Performance Marketing

Sometimes used as a synonym for CPA or CPL marketing programs. An umbrella term for payment structures that require user interaction beyond viewing or clicking an advertisement. Advertisers only pay affiliates or publishers who perform by sending visitors who make a purchase or take a specified action.

Publisher

A person or company that distributes advertisements on their website. Sometimes used as a synonym for Affiliate, depending on compensation structure. People or companies who are paid on actions, such as clicks, sales or form completions, are usually referred to as affiliates. Those who are paid on impressions, views or other numbers which do not require direct user action, are usually referred to as publishers.

Run of Network

Refers to the placement of links or advertisements. Run of network links or ads appear on multiple websites and on various pages instead of one specific website.

Run of Site or ROS

Refers to the placement of links or advertisements. Run of site links or ads appear on multiple website pages instead of one specific page or category.

Search Engine Optimization or SEO

The practice of changing or adding content to a website to enhance the placement in search engine results. The two basic components of most search engine optimization campaigns are content modification and development, and link modification and development.

SERPs

Search engine result pages or search engine ranking pages. The pages which are displayed after a user searches for a word or term.