This glossary relates to the interface between Market
Research and the Internet. The choice of terms, and the definitions included
for them, is driven by this focus of interest. The glossary has been organized
by
This glossary is permanently a work in progress, any
suggestions, queries, or clarifications would be warmly received. Please email
any contributions to
To find a word you can scroll down, use the links at the
head of each section to jump to the required letter, or use your browsers
search facility. A friendly search facility will be added at a later date.
Third generation mobile telephony, see UMTS.
802.11 is a wireless standard for connecting PCs together
to create a LAN referred to as Wi-Fi. The first version of Wi-Fi
was 802.11b, followed by the faster 802.11g. Wi-Fi provides
connection speeds comparable to Ethernet networks, but
without the cables. 802.11x is a method of referring
to the general 802.11 standard, and is not a specific variety. 802.11x is regulated by the IEEE (
A form of conjoint analysis developed by Sawtooth Software
where the program determines which conjoint task to ask next, based on the
respondent’s earlier responses. There is a version of ACA which is available
for Internet surveys, and which can be used in conjunction with Hierarchical Bayes. For more information
see www.sawtoothsoftware.com. ACA
is an example of a form of adaptive scripting.
See panels.
Acrobat Reader is a piece of software, which allows users
to read PDF files. Acrobat Reader is
produced by Adobe and can be downloaded free from www.adobe.com.
ActiveX is Microsoft’s answer to
Java; it is a programming language that can be used to
write small programs (applets) that perform a specific
task. The main drawback to ActiveX for Internet is that it requires the server
to be running Microsoft tools and for the browser to be capable of working with
it. More information about ActiveX can be found at www.microsoft.com.
An ad blocker is a piece of software that works with the users browser to prevent online advertisements being
displayed. Ad blockers can have the side effect of blocking other events as
well.
An ad click is a measure of the number of users
interacting with an ad. The most important type of ad click is the click-through.
The ad click rate is the ratio of ad
clicks to ad impressions, ie the number of
people who interacted with the ad as a percentage of all those who saw it.
An ad impression is created every time an ad is displayed
on a Web page. There are two categories of ad impression, push
and pull. Ads that are requested by the user’s browser are pull ads. Ads that
are initiated by the server are push ads.
An ad network is a broker of advertising space for a
number of different sites. These brokers act as the sales representatives for
the Web sites within the network.
Ad recall is a term used to describe the percentage of a
sample that can recall seeing an ad, after being exposed to it.
There are a number of variations that affect the recall
scores. The recall question is often asked immediately after the ad is removed
from the screen, but it may be asked later – the later the question is asked
the lower the recall is likely to be and the more likely that other chances to
see the ad will effect the score.
The recall question can be asked unprompted or as aided
recall. With aided recall the respondent is told the category, or brand, or
shown a copy of the ad (these are also known as prompted recall).
Ad rotation is when ads are rotated into an ad space from a list, either from the server
or via an ad server.
Most pages that display ads do not have the ad coded
directly into them, what they have are one or more ad
spaces where an ad server can send the ad to be displayed. An ad server
selects ads and sends them to the Web page when a request is received.
Ad serving is the delivery of an ad by the ad server to the user’s computer. The ad serving is
usually performed either by the publisher of the web site or by a third-party ad server.
An ad space is the location on the page where an ad is
going to be placed. There can be multiple ad spaces on a single page. An ad
space group is a number of ad spaces on the same page that share the same
characteristics and can be purchased as a group.
The collection of ads displayed to the user during a visit
to a site.
An ad view is created only when an ad is actually seen by
a user, this is not measurable with current technologies. Ad impressions may be off the visible screen,
partially loaded, blocked, or otherwise not viewed.
Adaptive scripting is a generic term for questionnaires
that are tailored to individual respondents. For example adaptive scripting can
be used to detect fraudulent responses, to shorten interviews for slower respondents, or to probe deeper when specific responses are
identified.
Adobe is a software company with a wide range of leading
programs including: Acrobat, Flash,
Dreamweaver, Photoshop, and Cold Fusion.
ADSL provides high bandwidth
Internet access using an ordinary telephone line. ADSL splits the telephone
line into two channels; this allows users to make normal telephone calls whilst
using the Internet. ADSL is one form of DSL
and is a type of broadband connection.
Affiliate marketing is an arrangement where one site (the
affiliate) carries ads for a second site and receives some form of
compensation, such as a percentage of the sales generated from the visits to
the second site.
Selling services and/or products to existing customers on
the basis of their buying/viewing/searching patterns.
An animated ad is an ad that changes. This can be
achieved, for example, by using streamed media, Shockwave, Java applets, or
animated GIFs.
See GIF.
An anonymizer is service that
prevents Web sites from detecting the user’s IP address. For more information
on one provider of these services see www.anonymizer.com.
Viruses are a major problem for
computers connected to the Internet. Antivirus software, software that searches
for and deals with viruses, has become an essential part of any system
configuration. The safest approach to virus protection is to use a program that
searches the Internet for updates on a regular basis. For information on a
leading provider of antivirus software visit www.norton.com.
AOL is the leading provider of consumer online services in
the
An applet is small self-contained piece of software that
can be sent along with a Web page to the users browser
to perform local processing. Applets are usually written in Java
and their uses include: interactive animations, immediate calculations, and the
implementation of a market research questionnaire. One problem with applet’s is
that they require the user to be running a compatible browser and also for the
user not to have blocked that type of applet.
The ARF is a USA-based non-profit trade association whose
mission is to improve the practice of advertising, marketing
and media research in pursuit of more effective marketing and advertising
communications. For more information visit www.arfsite.org.
ASCII is a method of representing Western character sets
using just a single byte. The standard form of ASCII uses
just 7 bits of the byte, meaning that just 128 characters are defined. It is
generally assumed that Unicode, a system which has the
disadvantage of using two bytes per character but which can represent over
65,000 characters, will replace ASCII over the next few years.
Active Server Pages is a proprietary technique designed by
Microsoft that allows a Web page to have a high
degree of interactivity without resorting to CGI scripting.
However Application Server Pages will only run if your server is using the
appropriate Microsoft software, eg it will not run if your server is Unix based.
This type of ASP is not particularly relevant to the world
of market research and should not be confused with Application Service Providers (also
referred to as ASPs), which are very important in the provision of market research
online services.
An ASP is a company that hosts applications on its servers and rents access to them over the Internet. Rather
than buy the software the subscribers use the systems on demand and tend to pay
on a per use basis. Within the world of market research two ASP products are Confirmit and GMI.
The term asynchronous research covers techniques that
allow respondents to answer in their own time rather than in direct response to
a question or prompt. Many quantitative techniques have this property, for
example mail, email, and diary. Until recently qualitative techniques tended to
be synchronous in nature, but the growth of Moderated
Email Groups and Bulletin Board Groups
has changed that.
Asynchronous qualitative is a term that includes those
forms of qualitative that do not require the moderator and the subject to be
interacting at the same time. Examples of asynchronous techniques include Blog
Groups, MEGs and Bulletin Board Groups.
B2B is a generic phrase for markets where the customers
for the products and services are companies rather than consumers. B2B market
research is conducted amongst those businesses that are customers or
prospective customers of the research agencies client.
B2C is a generic phrase to describe selling things to
consumers. B2C marker research in conducted with consumers.
B2B exchanges are online market places. Exchanges can take
a variety of forms including: providers offering products/services at a
specific price, providers offering products/services via an auction, buyers
requesting products/services via tender or competitive bid. B2B exchanges have
been most successful where they have been dealing with commodities that can be
readily interchanged, for example motor parts. However, many analysts predict
that in the future they will encompass a wider range of services, possibly
including market research fieldwork.
A backbone is central network connecting other networks
together. Networks within companies will often have a backbone connecting
smaller networks together. Likewise, the Internet has a backbone connecting
countries and major sites together.
Bandwidth describes the amount of electronic
"space" available on a computer network. Bandwidth is usually
expressed in bytes per second. A 56kbps modem, for
example, can transmit data at the rate of 56,000 bytes per second.
A banner is an advert that is displayed with a Web page. The
Web site’s publisher can serve banners or they can be organised and delivered
by ad-serving companies, such as Double-Click. More information on the
different formats of banners is available from www.iab.net,
the Interactive Advertising Bureau.
See Web bug.
Bit rate is a measure of bandwidth
that tells you how fast data is moving from one place to another. A bit is a
single unit of data (a 1 or a 0) and be expressed as Kbps (Kilobits per
second).
The term black-box is a pejorative description of a
proprietary system, where the owner of the system chooses to keep important
information secret. The term black-box can be applied to either the algorithm
(as in the case of a market modeling system), or to
the data format (ensuring that other vendors cannot supply additional or
competitive functionality).
A typical blog is defined by the software it is written in.
Blog software makes it very easy to add articles, either from a web interface,
or remotely using email or even mobile phone. Articles written for a blog are
called a post and are typically displayed in date order. Many blogs are set up
as a diary, either as a personal diary or about events in some area of interest.
Another common type of blog is the journalist blog, or the private citizen
engaging in their own journalism. Blogs are an example of Consumer
Generated Media.
Blog groups use blogs as a medium for
online asynchronous qualitative
research. In a typical project a group of members are recruited and given
access to a closed blog, one where the general public cannot access. A typical
project lasts one to two weeks, with about 10 participants. Each day the
moderator will post comments and often tasks for the group's members. The
members post their replies, often uploading material they have found on the web.
In many ways the Blog Group is very similar to the Bulletin
Board Group, but it has a more modern feel and corresponds with the growing
demand to let consumers have more say in their own terms.
The blogosphere is a collective term for all the blogs, rss
feeds, and discussions about blogs that are on the Internet.
Bluetooth is a protocol that
enables mobile and fixed-location devices to communicate via short-range
wireless connections. For example Bluetooth can be used to enable a mobile to
have an earpiece that is not connected by a cable. The aim of Bluetooth
proponents is to link together a wide variety of IT devices, including mobile
phones, PCs, PDAs, payment systems, and entertainments centers. However, Bluetooth has taken off much more slowly
than was expected and is being challenged by the uptake of systems such as 802.11b. For more information visit www.bluetooth.com.
Web browsers usually include a facility to ‘Bookmark’ a URL for future reference, ie storing the
location so the user can readily find it next time. Microsoft’s
Internet Explorer uses the terms Favorites to
describe the book marking process.
See Robot
When an email is undeliverable it will generally be sent
back to the sender with a message that it has not been delivered, this is a
bounce-back.
Brand Impact is Millward Brown’s proprietary technique for
measuring the effectiveness of online advertising.
A bricks and mortar company is a traditional business that
only has real locations with real customers coming through its doors. A company
that operates both online and offline is often referred to as a clicks and
mortar company. Companies that operate only on the Internet are referred to as pure plays.
A high speed Internet connection, any bit rate over
100Kbps is considered broadband. Cable modems, ADSL, and ISDN offer broadband to the home user.
A system used by streamed media
providers to ensure the smooth delivery of the media. The software loads an
amount of the stream into a buffer before starting to display the media; it can
then use this buffer to compensate for variations in download speed during the
session.
Bulletin Board Groups are an online qualitative approach
that uses a bulleting board to provide a means to communicating with the group
members. The moderator posts questions online or sets tasks (eg to visit a site
or to view some stimuli) and the members of the group log in at their
convenience to reply to the prompts and to other members’ responses. A Bulletin
Board Group is an example if an asynchronous
qualitative technique. Software for Bulletin Board Groups is available from
Itracks and GMI.
In the context of a Web page, a button is either a
clickable graphic with some functionality, or a form of online ad.
The byte is main unit of data in most modern computers. A
byte is holds 8 bits (1s or 0s) and can represent a number in the range 0 to
255. Bytes can be combined together to represent larger numbers, decimal
numbers, of executable code. In ASCII
one byte us used to store one character.
A cable modem is piece of hardware that allows a PC to
connect to the Internet over a cable network (such as a cable TV system). Cable
modems typically deliver high-speed access, ie they are a broadband connection.
A cache (pronounced cash) is an area that is used to
temporarily store information, particularly frequently used information. PCs
will usually use both RAM and hard disk caching to improve performance. Web
browsers write most of the information viewed to a cache, which speeds up
re-viewing the same material.
CAWI refers to interviewing over the Web as opposed to
CAPI (Computer Aided Personal Interviewing), CATI (Computer Aided Telephone
Interviewing), and PAPI (Paper and Pencil Interviewing). The term CAWI has a
somewhat old fashioned feel to it (very 90s).
CGI is a language that runs on a server
and which processes responses from the user. CGI can be used to take actions
based on the respondent’s responses to items on the page, such as check boxes. The
strength of CGI is that it since it runs on the server, rather than via the users browser (which is what languages like Java
do), it is more reliable. The disadvantages include the latency
in waiting for the server to respond, difficulties with the language, and
problems with obtaining permission to load the CGI programs onto the server.
Consumer Generated Media (also known as Participatory
Media) is a collective term for the many ways that people can express themselves
on the Web. These forms include: blogs, discussion forums,
product review sites, places where video clips can be uploaded such www.youtube.com
and personal spaces such as www.myspace.com.
Another aspect of CGM is the way that regular news channels such as the BBC
encourage people to send in video clips, using their mobile phones, from real
news stories, as they are breaking.
Chat is a facility for two or more people to communicate
on the Internet using real-time text. Chat tends to be divided into chat rooms and Instant
Messaging.
A chat room is Web location where two or more people can
chat together. Chat rooms can either be public (anybody can join them) or
private (typically locked via a password). Many chat rooms exist on a permanent
basis, either to discuss a particular topic, or as a general place to meet. A
chat room may be moderated.
Click rate is a measurement of the number of people
clicking on an ad, as a percentage of all those seeing the ad.
The click stream is the collection of data defining the
sequence of signals between a browser and the Internet. It is the combination
of the messages sent from the user to the server, and
the messages to the user.
When somebody clicks on a hyperlink (eg a banner) they
create a click-through. For some types of advertising the click-through seen as
the most important measure of its success, inasmuch as eyeballs have been
delivered. However, for most online ads it is more important to understand the
impact of the ad on the brand and/or the ads performance at delivering
completes (eg how many clicks lead to a purchase or a registration).
The click-through rate is the percentage of people who see
an ad and who then click on it. Some online advertising is priced on a how many
people click on an ad; see cost per click.
A clicks and mortar company is one that operates via
traditional real locations and via an Internet presence. An e-tailer is a clicks and mortar if it has both real and
virtual locations, but it is a so-called pure play if
it only has an online presence. The term clicks and mortar is an evolved form
of bricks and mortar, a term that refers to
companies that only have real locations.
The client is the computer that is connected to the
Internet and which sends information and requests to the server,
ie it is the user’s computer. Processing which takes place on the user’s
computer is referred to as client-side processing,
processing that takes place on the server is called server-side processing.
Codec stands for compression/decompression. Codecs are algorithms for compressing the size of media
files, making them easier to transmit over the Web. A file can only be read
using the same Codec that originally compressed it.
See CGM.
Content integration refers to advertising that in
integrated with the contents of a Web page, as opposed to having the
advertising clearly separated. Content integration can also be known as Web
advertorial.
A cookie is a file that the server
puts on the user’s browser, which uniquely identifies the user’s computer. There
are two types of cookies: persistent cookies and session cookies. Session
cookies are temporary and are erased when the session ends. Persistent cookies
remain on the user’s hard drive until the user erases them or until they
expire.
As a method of uniquely identifying people cookies have
their limitations. Firstly, a small number of people set their browser to
reject cookies. More importantly, using cookies to filter respondents assumes
that each person has only on computer and that each computer has only one user.
These problems do not invalidate cookies as a tool for the market researcher,
but they do make them a little fuzzy.
Cookies are currently the subject of substantial debate
with the European Union and their use is likely to be heavily regulated in the
near future.
Confirmit is the online market research service provided
by Norwegian company, Firm. Confirmit is an example of a
service being provided as by an ASP.
Convergence is a term that describes the coming together
of different technologies. For example the convergence of computer and
telephone networks means that voice and data calls can be carried on a single
network.
A
COPPR is a set of rules published by the United States FTC
in 1999 and which went into effect in the
Cost of advertising based on some agreed actions, for
example registering for a service or completing on online survey.
CPC is a pricing method for advertising based on charging
for each user who clicks on the advert.
Cost of advertising based on charges for units of
thousands ad impressions, this is the most common and traditional way of
pricing online advertising.
See Robot.
The ultimate aim of CRM is to identify and develop those
customers that will be most profitable to the company in the long-term. CRM
requires organizations to know about their individual customers, to track their
relationship, and to organize their activities is a targeted way.
Dark wire is the term applied to fiber
optic cable which is sold as unused capacity, for example a cable provider may
sell dark wire to a telco to allow them to use it for
their services.
Data Protection usually refers to national and
international legislation covering data privacy and the requirements on
organisations to handle personal information in a safe and proper manner. In
addition, many organizations issue guidelines that cover the area of Data
Protection/privacy, such as the ESOMAR/ARF
guidelines.
The DDA is a piece of UK legislation that requires services
to the public to be accessible to those with special needs, for example the
visually impaired. This law, and similar laws in other markets such as Australia
and USA, apply to publicly accessible websites and surveys that the public can
access. The best source of information on how to make websites accessible is
from the Web Accessibility Initiative at www.w3.org/WAI/.
DHTML is an extension to HTML
to add animation to Web pages.
Digital signatures provide a way of authenticating who has
sent an email or electronic document. Since digital signatures establish
identity, they can be used to legally endorse agreements and contracts.
In Discrete Choice respondents are given tasks where they
are offered choices and where they must pick one, as opposed to rank or rate
choices. The main use of Discrete Choice Models is in conjoint analysis, but
they can also be used in areas such as MaxDiff scaling
and Brand Price Trade-Off.
A name that represents an IP
address. Domain names are used to make IP addresses more friendly and
informative. In the following URL, ”http://www.thefutureplace.com/about.htm”,
the domain name is “thefutureplace.com”.
Characters are represented on computers, and on the
Internet, via numbers stored in binary format, ie 1s and 0s. For Western
character sets (eg the Roman character set), the characters can be represented
using a single byte (representing numbers in the range 0
to 255). The standard system for representing Western characters is ASCII and is well established.
However, some scripts require much more variation than can
be provided by ASCII. For example, Chinese has over 2000 different symbols. Computer
systems can be updated to use two bytes to represent each character (two bytes
provide over 65000 possible characters). The most common method for using two
bytes to represent characters is Unicode.
DSL is a method of sending high-speed data over a
conventional telephone line. DSL uses separate channels for voice and data, so
the user can talk on the same line they are using to connect to the Internet. DSL
comes in several varieties: The most common consumer variety is ADSL.
A dynamic IP address is an IP
address that changes every time that a user connects to the Internet. Dynamic
IPs are typical of users who
connect via ISPs and individuals within large corporations. Because many IP
addresses are dynamic they are not a reliable way of identifying repeat
visitors to a site.
The term eCRM is applied to both
CRM being applied to customers of
online companies and to the use of the Internet as part of a conventional
organization's CRM programme.
Encryption is a method of making it difficult or
impossible for third parties to read information or data. The original data is
scrambled using mathematical techniques before being stored or transmitted; it
is then decrypted when it is retrieved/received.
EDI is a well-established form of electronic commerce that
has traditionally taken place over proprietary networks. One way of reducing
the cost of EDI, and making it more accessible to smaller companies, is to migrate EDI standards to the Internet, various systems are
currently competing to offer this service.
ESOMAR is the European based international association of
market researchers. Amongst many other activities, ESOMAR issues guidelines on
the conduct of market research, and these guidelines are binding on it members.
These guidelines include sections on using the Internet for market research. Its
website is www.esomar.org.
The most important guidelines for researchers using the
Internet are those provided by ESOMAR. These rules include guidance on
providing Privacy Policies, of the special rules
for interviewing children, and the need to avoid spam. The
guidelines can be downloaded from www.esomar.org.
An e-tailer is simply an online
retailer. Traditional retailers are described as bricks
and mortar, whilst companies that embrace both traditional and electronic
channels are referred to as clicks and mortar.
An e-tailer that operates only online is known as a pure play company.
Ethernet is a method of networking computers together
within a site, ie a LAN.
An extranet is an area within an Intranet
that allows third parties to access specific information and resources. Extranets
are used both to share information with third parties and also to allow third
parties to deliver information and services.
Many Web sites and services have a FAQ section where users
can review the answers to typical questions. These FAQ’s can make the site more
usable and reduce the load on technical support teams.
A firewall is a technology that prevents unauthorized
access to areas of a network, and in particular which regulates people entering
private networks via the Internet, and prevents the admission of electronic
agents that could compromise your systems.
The Firm is a Norwegian based ASP offering online quantitative market
research services. The Firm’s online market research system is called Confirmit, for more information see www.firm.no.
A flame, is an angry view that is
emailed or posted on a bulletin board. As a verb, Flame refers to the process
of sending angry messages. If you breach Internet netiquette
you may find yourself being flamed, being sent angry messages by many people.
A technology from Adobe used to present 'bandwidth-friendly' animations on Web pages. For more
information visit www.adobe.com.
See interstitials.
Frames are a way of organizing Web sites so that browsers
display several areas on the screen at the same time, each of which is a Web
page.
The number of times the same ad is
viewed by the same person. Cookies can be used to
control ad frequencies.
Freeware is software that is distributed free, often as an
inducement for people to try it and then to go on and buy a commercial version
(usually with greater functionality). Freeware should not be confused with shareware – for which some payment is usually required.
FTP is a method of uploading and downloading files. FTP
used to be fairly common on the Internet, but is now restricted mainly to the
technical community.
GIF is one of the two leading Internet formats for storing
graphical images, the other popular format being JPG. GIF files use data compression to
reduce the size of the file, making it easier to transmit over the Internet.
An animated GIF is created by storing multiple images in
the same file. These images are then displayed one after another giving the impression
of movement – in the same way a cartoon gives the image of movement.
GMI is a
Seth Godin is a leading author
and write on permission based marketing.
For more information see www.permission.com.
GPRS is often referred to as 2.5G (ie 2.5 generation)
because it is a way of improving the performance of the existing second-generation
mobile phone network. It can offer data rates between 56kbits/s and 114kbits/s.
GPRS allows users to remain connected to the Internet, being charged on the
volume of data sent and received, rather than by charging by connect time. GPRS
may provide a way of providing data communications prior to the introduction of
third generation mobile phone networks (UMTS)
in 2003.
GSM, or second generation mobile, is the current standard
for mobile telephony in
An alternative to the older text based interface. The most
typical GUI is the windows mouse pointer interface, which allows the user to
see the system as a sequence of icons and to use the mouse to control it.
Harris Interactive is a major
Hierarchical Bayes is a computer intensive technique that
is based on Bayesian statistics. The attraction of HB is that it allows a
researcher to collect sparse data and then estimate how the missing data would
behave. For example HB is used in conjoint analysis, each respondent answers a
sub-set of the questions and from this data a total distribution is estimated.
Using complicated procedures (beyond the scope of most researchers) HB then
estimates the values for each respondent.
TV using a digital format and providing about five times
as much definition as conventional TV.
A hit is the term used to describe each element downloaded
from the server when a user visits a web
page. If a page contains three graphical images then the server will record
fours hits, one for the page and one for each of the images downloaded. Hits
are useful as a measurement of workload on the server.
The home page is the central point of reference for a Web
site, and is often also known as the index page. Web sites tend to have a tree
structure, which starts with the home page and extends beyond it with a branch
structure. Many web sites will include links back to the home page at various
points, to enable the visitor to readily return to the central point.
A computer connected to the Internet offering services to
other computers. Each host has a permanent IP address.
A host is also known as a server.
Hotmail is owned by Microsoft
(and operates as part of the MSN services) and is the
leading supplier of free email services. Hotmail is a Web based email system, users can connect via any Internet connection and do
not store their emails and address books offline. For more information visit www.hotmail.com.
House ads are ads for a product or service from the
company publishing the web page. The IAB
recommends that revenues from house ads should not be included in reported
advertising revenues.
HTML is the language that underpins World Wide Web. HTML allows browsers to convert
plain text Web pages into the graphical screens associated with the Internet. HTML
consists of a set of tags that tell the browser how to display the elements, or
where to download additional elements. HTML is a specific form of the more
general SGML.
HTTP is the most common format for transferring documents
on the Internet.
By convention URLs
that require SSL start with HTTPS, SSL provides a
secure Internet connection and is used when sensitive data, e.g. credit card
details, are being entered.
A hyperlink is a method of turning text or a graphic into
an instruction to transfer the user to some other locations (within a document
or across the Internet). The link is associated with a piece
of text or a graphic, when the users clicks on this
link they are taken to the new location.
The term hypertext refers to text on a page that causes a hyperlink to be actioned when
the user clicks on it.
A hyperstitial is an ad that is
displayed whilst the user waits for the requested page to be downloaded; these
ads can be full screen or smaller.
The IAB is a US based trade association (with other
national affiliates) who seeks to promote and regulate Internet advertising. For
more information see www.iab.net.
ICQ (pronounced I seek you) is the longest established
instant messaging system. In recent years MSN and AOL’s instant messaging have become more
popular.
A method of two or more people creating a private chat
room. IM systems (such as ICQ, AOL Instant Messaging etc) tell users which
of their friends/contacts are online.
An image map is a graphic on a Web page that comprises a
number of hyperlinks. Each hyperlink or hot spot can
lead to a different location. For example a store with regional outlets may
show a map of the country on its web site, where clicking on a region would
take the user to the information for that area.
IMAP is a protocol for retrieving email. Version 4 of IMAP
is similar to POP but it is claimed to have
additional functionalities.
An insertion is the placement of an ad on a Web page, as
recorded by the ad server.
Interstitials are ads that appear between one page and
another (the analogy being to stitching an ad between two pages in a magazine).
Interstitials are also known as transition ads, splash
pages and flash pages.
An intranet is an internal computer network that uses
Internet technology to allow people within the organization to share
information and work collaboratively, ie a web within one company.
Inventory is an advertising term that covers the
collection of ads available on a Web site.
Invisible processing is a generic term that covers the
practice of collecting information about users/respondents without them
knowing. For example the server may query
the browser to find out client-side
information such as: screen size, operating system, color
settings, options enabled, plus server-side
information such as date of access, referring URL,
etc. The ESOMAR/ARF guidelines
say that a site’s Privacy Policy should warn
users if invisible processing is being used.
IP is the standard communications protocol
for transmitting data over the Internet. The reason the Internet works is that
everybody is using the same protocol.
Every system that is connected to the Internet has a
unique address in the form of a four-part number XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX where each of
the parts is an integer in the range 0 to 255. Most ISPs and Proxy
servers use a dynamic approach, which
means that each user of their service does not have a permanent, unique IP
Address.
IRC is the software that underlies online chat rooms and other forms of online chat.
ISDN is a digital telephone system that can transfer data
at up to 128 Kilobits per second.
The ISPs provide the connection between users and the
Internet. The services provided by ISP’s vary greatly and can cover everything
from basic access and email, to sophisticated services such as VoIP.
Itracks is a
ITV is a generic phrase that includes any system that
allows two-way communication between viewers and the broadcaster or cable
operator.
Java is programming language for building applications on
the Internet. Small Java programs, called applets, can
be downloaded from a server and run by Java
compatible browsers such as Internet Explorer.
JavaScript is a scripting language originally developed by
Netscape to allow dynamic interaction with Web sites. JavaScript is a quite
separate language from Java, and is generally considered
much easier to program, but more limited.
JPEG is one of the two most popular formats for Internet
graphics, allowing the image to be compressed to facilitate faster downloads.
A jump page is a microsite
that is activated by clicking on a button or banner. The jump page contains links
to several further pages.
Keywords are words or phrases typed into a search engine by users. Advertisers can purchase key
words from the search engine, so that people typing these words in will be
directed to the advertisers site.
A network of computers connected together at a single
location, using a technology such as Ethernet.
Latency describes the delay in a system. For example the
time it takes a packet of information to travel across the network, or the
delay between a request and the display of content, are both described as the
latency of those events.
A latent click through is when somebody sees an online banner, and later visits the advertiser’s
site as a result of seeing the banner, but without clicking on the banner.
Legacy refers to the need to ensure that new software
packages and operating systems can read old data and will work with established
interfaces. Legacy issues tend to slow down the development of new systems and
can also ensure that a company stays locked in to a less than optimal configuration,
because otherwise it would have to pay to convert all its systems, or lose
information.
A link is a hyperlink between an
item on a Web page and some other location.
Linux is a Unix-based operating
system that is very suitable for PCs and is free. Linux was developed by Linus Torvalds, from the
A listserver is program/service
that allows a user to send emails to a list of people.
A log file is a record on the server that records all the processes on the
Web site. This information includes date, URL
served, IP address, referring
URL, etc.
Macromedia's products are now available from Adobe.
Changes in people that take place during the experiment
that are not necessarily related to the experiment but may affect their
response to the element under investigation. Asynchronous
techniques such as Bulletin Board Groups facilitate the examination of the
maturation effects.
MaxDiff Scaling is a technique which produce unbiased
scalings and is particularly useful in cross-country or cross-cultural projects.
In a MaxDiff project the respondent is shown a group of attributes or features
and says which is best and which is worst. The data is then accumulated across
the respondents to provide a scaling amongst a longer set of attributes or
features. If this the fact that respondents have to make a single choice of best
and worst per set that creates the unbiased nature of the scale.
A MEG is an asynchronous
qualitative technique, originally developed by Pete
Comley. A MEG is conducted by the moderator sending a series of emails to
the members of the group, who in turn reply to the moderator. With a MEG the
members of the group do not communicate directly with each other.
A meta tag is a special HTML tag that has no visible effect on the
Web page. The meta tag contains information about the page,
such as who created the page, how often it is updated, what the page is about,
and keywords. Many search engines use the keyword
and description meta tag contents when building their
indexes.
M-commerce refers to any form of commerce transacted via a
mobile device such as an Internet enabled mobile phone.
A microsite is a multi-page ad
or a sub-site delivered by clicking on an initial ad. The microsite
is normally hosted by the same server as the
parent site.
Microsoft is the main provider of operating systems,
office programs, and Internet browsers for the PC market. In addition MSN is a major player in terms of the Internet, for example
owning Hotmail.
Millward Brown is a leading research agency and a member
of the WPP group. Millward Brown is a recognized leader in advertising tracking
and pre-testing (with products such as ATP and Link), and via Millward Brown
IntelliQuest and products such as Brand Impact has
won recognition for its innovation in online research. For more information
visit www.millwardbrown.com or www.intelliquest.com.
A mirror site is a copy of a Web site. The mirror site can
be used to spread traffic to avoid bottlenecks, or to increase
reliability. Mirror sites are also used by parts of the Internet community to
protect a site from censorship.
MP3 is a compressed format for audio files.
The MRS is the market research organization of the
The MRSA is the market research organization of
MPEG is a format used to compress and transmit
audio-visual material.
MSN is Microsoft’s online presence and includes such
services as Hotmail and MSN’s Instant Messaging.
Net Effects is sequence of annual conferences held by ESOMAR to explore the interface between market research and
the Internet. Net Effects 5 was held in
Net TV is a generic term for televisions that have the
facility to connect to the Internet, this can be via
cable or by a set-top box.
Netiquette is the etiquette of using the Internet.
Nielsen//Net Ratings is a leading provider of Internet
audit data globally. NetRatings have panels in 29 countries measuring Internet
usage. Each panel member has software that records what he or she views, where
they surf, the advertising downloaded, etc. These panels are then used to
estimate what is happening for the whole country. For more information visit www.netratings.com.
A newsgroup is a discussion group, usually using a
bulletin board, devoted to a single topic.
See Synchronous
Online Groups.
Open standards is a movement to create an agreed set of protocols and systems that will enable software to work
together collaboratively. Traditionally, software packages have kept their data
formats a secret, adopting a black box approach. The
campaign for open standards aims to sweep these black boxes away so that users
will be better able to choose software tools on their merit rather than their legacy.
Opinion Place is provided by AOL and is the largest supply of online
sample in the
A system of permission based on people actively requesting
further contact. Double-opt-in is a more secure form of opt-in, after somebody
opts-in they are sent an email and must reply to this also before they are
deemed to have opted-in.
A system of permission based on people receiving further
contact unless they request no further contact.
P3P is a specification that tells a browser to
automatically understand a Web site’s privacy policy.
Panels, sometimes known as access panels, are lists people
who are willing to take part in market research tasks in return for some
remuneration. The growth of online research has been closely associated with the
growth in the availability of online panels. Online panels are widely available
in the developed markets but less so in other markets.
Paradata is data about the process. In market research
paradata includes the date and time of an interview, the number of answered
questions, the length of text used in open-ends, the number of errors, etc. Paradata
can be used to find out more about the interview process and to optimize
questionnaires.
See CGM
The term PDA refers to handheld computers and electronic
organisers, such as 3Com’s PalmPilot.
PDF is a method of displaying output without having the
original program. PDF was developed Adobe and their PDF reader, Adobe Acrobat, is freely available from www.adobe.com.
Marketing based on consumers giving companies
permission to market their products and services to them. The seminal author in
this field is Seth Godin, for more information see www.permission.com.
Permission based research is market research based on
contacting people who have given permission to be contacted, this term includes
access panels and databases, and arguably beyond that to
people who have not opted out of receiving contact.
A PIN is a group of numbers that operates as a password. PINs were originally used in services such as cash
machines, and which has now been adopted by some web sites.
A pixel is a single dot on a computer screen. Ads and
screens are defined in terms of pixel size, for example a tradition PC screen
used to be 640 by 480 pixels, although 1024 by 768 is now more popular.
The term platform describes the type of computer and/or
operating system eg Windows, Macintosh or Unix.
A plug-in is a program that can be installed and then used
as part of a Web browser. Popular plug-ins include: Adobe’s Acrobat, Real Media Player,
and Macromedia’s Shockwave. Once installed they can
be recognized automatically and work with the HTML
being downloaded.
PNG, pronounced ping, is a patent free graphics format
similar to GIF. The World Wide Web consortium approved PNG as a
replacement for GIF after it became widely known that the GIF format depended
on a patented compression algorithm.
A Podcast is an audio file that can be downloaded and
played on devices such as Ipods, mobile phones, or PCs.
A point of presence is a telephone number provided by an ISP that allows a user to obtain
dial-in access to the Internet. In some countries ISPs will offer numerous POP
numbers to facilitate local area dialing, in other
countries this is provided via a national pseudo local number.
POP is the most common protocol for collecting email over
the Internet, although some favor the newer IMAP. Version 1 of POP required messages to
be sent using SMTP, however the latest
version of POP does not require this.
A pop-under is a new window that is created and placed
behind the current browser window. This pop-under can be used to place an ad to
be seen at a later stage, it can also be used to organize an invitation to take
part in a survey.
A pop-up is new window that is created in front of the
user’s current browser window. This window can be used to display an ad or to
invite people to take a market research survey.
A portal is a Web site that attempts to serve as the
starting page and main point of reference for users. A portal offers a range of
services that typically includes: search, news, links, email, and entertainment.
A Privacy Policy is a statement by the owner of the Web
site explaining what data is collected, how that data is stored, what happens
to the data, and who has access to that data. According to the ESOMAR/ARF guidelines, all online
questionnaires should include either a privacy policy or a prominent link to
the policy.
A privacy seal is a protocol that
confirms that the Web site owner complies with the Web sites privacy policy. One
example of a privacy seal system is TRUSTe, for more
information visit www.truste.com.
Profiling is process of collecting information about
customers in order to be able to match their needs better. This can be
completed with declared information, but it can also be achieved by collecting
information passively, for example pages viewed, text in search engines, etc.
A protocol is a set of rules that allows two devices to
transmit information to one another. Examples of common protocols are TCP/IP, FTP,
and HTTP.
Proxy servers stand between users and popular Web servers. Proxy servers cache
the most popular sites so that the user can get a quicker response and to
reduce the load on the system. One by-product of proxy servers is that the
number of people viewing a popular Web site can be greatly underestimated when
its log files are inspected.
A pure play company is one that exists only on the
Internet. By contrast companies that exist wholly in the real world are called bricks and mortar companies. An e-tailer that only sold online
would be a pure play company, but if it also had real locations it could be
described as a clicks and mortar company.
Quantime was a leading providing
of market research DP and data collection software. Quantime was purchased
by SPSS and is not integrated with their products.
A question sent to a database, for example the string
typed into a search engine.
Reach is the number of unique
visitors to a site over a specific reporting period. Reach is normally
expressed as a percentage of the relevant population.
Real Player is a plug-in developed
by RealNetworks to allow media files to be viewed by
browsers. Real Player is available in freeware and premium (paid for) versions,
see www.real.com.
Money paid to a site in response to qualified sales leads
or purchase enquires from users forwarded by another site.
The referring URL is
the address of the page on which the user clicked a link to arrive at the
current page. This does not apply when a user types the URL in directly.
More
Rich media is a generic term that includes animation,
sound, video, interactivity, or other bandwidth
hungry features.
Software can be programmed to traverse the web to find
specific categories of information.
A router is used to connect one network to another, for
example to join two LANs together. In the
An RSS feed is a method of a site providing information to
people who sign up to the site. People can use their browser or a specific RSS
reader to link to the RSS feed. When a story is published on the website the RSS
feed let's all the registered readers know that it is available, with the users
having to visit the site. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication.
With run of network, the scheduling of the ads is at the
discretion of the network who will schedule the ads to best fit in with its
other inventory, across the sites it represents. The
advertiser will normally be paying a lower CPM,
but will not be getting the premium positions.
With run of site, the ads are shown right across the site.
This tends to attract a lower CPM than specifying
specific sections of the site, or positions on the page.
A search engine is a tool to allow users search for
information across a range of documents. In many cases the term search engine
is used to describe the specific case where a user types in key words and the
search engine identifies the Web pages that may match the user’s needs. One
leading search engine is www.google.com. One
alternative to using a search engine is to use a directory of topics. Many
portals such as Yahoo offer both a directory and a search
engine.
A secure server is one that supports SSL and the HTTPS protocol and is used to send and receive encrypted information, such as credit card numbers.
When a user requests a Web page a server supplies it. A
server sends pages to multiple users as and when requests are received. The
server is the place where files are stored, programs such as CGI are run, and where the log
files are kept. A server is also known as a host.
Processing which takes place on the server is known as
server-side processing, as opposed to processing which takes place on the
user’s computer, which is known as client-side
processing.
A server farm is a collection of servers networked together at a single
location. Server farms depend on load balancing software to make sure that they
provide an optimal solution to workload requests. If one server in a server
farm were to fail, others would be able to tale its load.
A session is the collection of Internet transactions made
by one user making a visit to one site. However, most sites operate a time-out
and if the user makes no action for say 30 minutes and then starts typing again
this may count as a second session. The term session can also be used to
include visits to multiple sites if these can be tracked, for example a user
might enter a site, click on an ad, and then return to the site.
SGML is a system for organizing and tagging documents and
was published by the International Organization for Standards in 1986. SMGL is
not a practical solution, rather it is a set of rules
for how to produce a specific solution. HTMP,
and XML, are examples of specific
solutions that have flowed from the parent language, SGML.
Shareware is software that can be freely downloaded and
tried. However, shareware is not freeware, and the
authors usually expect payment if you intend to continue to use the package. Not
all shareware authors allow their products to be used for commercial purposes.
Shockwave is a browser plug-in
that allows HTML pages to display
multimedia. Shockwave was developed by Adobe and is freely available, however the tool to create
Shockwave files is only available commercially.
A shop bot is an intelligent agent or Robot that can be used to find a best price on the Web, for example by searching through e-tailers
or online auctions. Skype is the leading consumer provider
of VOIP (voice over internet). Skype provides free calls to other Skype users,
more information is available at www.skype.com.
The term Spam
originates from the Spam song from Monty Python (a
T1 is a high-speed network or telephone connection
(1.54 Megabits per second).
T3 is a very high-speed network or telephone
connection (45 Megabits per second).
T-commerce is a generic term for any form of commerce
conducted via interactive TV.
Webcasting is the delivery of a live event over the Internet
(using audio, video, or animation).
Word
of Mouth is a collective term for all the things people are saying to each other
on the Internet. WOM includes CGM (Consumer Generated Media)
and includes many different ways of posting, commenting, recommending and
linking. WOM marketing is a growing area with viral marketing being a good
example. WOM research includes the work of organizations such as BuzzMetrics,
who measure the quantity and content of online discussions and posts.
A
Wiki is a collaborative site where the users contribute to an evolving product.
One example of a Wiki is www.wikipedia.org, an online encyclopedia where users
can contribute to the entries.
XHTML
is the latest version HTML,
the standards for HTML are no longer updated.