Jargon Buster - M to R

Meta search engine
search engine that displays results from multiple search engines.

Meta-tags/ descriptions
HTML tags that identify the content of a web page for search engines.

MMA
The Mobile Marketing Association – A global non-profit association that strives to stimulate the growth of mobile marketing and its associated technologies.

MMS Message
A message sent via a Multimedia Messaging Service that contains multimedia objects.

Mobile Advertising
A form of advertising that is communicated to the consumer/target via a handset. Most commonly seen as a Mobile Web Banner Ad (top of the page) Mobile Web Poster (bottom of the page banner), full screen interstitial (appears while requested page is loading), SMS and MMS Ads, Mobile Gaming Ad, and Mobile Video Ad.

Mobile Agency Service (MAS)
Technology that underpins the media, planning and buying. Tools are used to track, optimise and report on services.

Mobile Community Service
Enables end-users to communicate through the service, and upload or download content to a private or public space.

Mobile Content
Entertainment, sports and news information and games delivered via any wireless media type in a non-advertising format.

Mobile internet advertising
A form of advertising via mobile phones or other wireless devices (excluding laptops). This type of mobile advertising includes mobile web banner ads, mobile internet sponsorship and interstitials (which appear while a requested mobile web page is loading) as well as mobile paid-for search listings. Mobile internet advertising does not include other forms of mobile marketing such as SMS, MMS and shortcode.

Mobile Marketer
All companies within the mobile ecosystem, including: advertisers, aggregators/distributors, carries, content providers and publishers.

Mobile Marketing
The use of wireless media as an integrated content delivery and direct response vehicle within a cross-media or stand-alone marketing communications program.

Mobile Messaging Programming
Multiple mobile messages, usually delivered as part of a coordinated campaign.

Mobile Search
Executing a search via mobile internet.

Mobile Web
A channel for delivery of web content, which offers and formats content to users in awareness of the mobile context.

MP3
A computer file format that compresses audio files up to a factor of 12 from a .wav file.

MPEG
File format used to compress and transmit video clips online.

Multiple Purpose Units (MPU)
A square online advert usually found embedded in a web page in a fixed placement. Called ‘multiple purpose’ as it is a flexible shaped blank ‘canvas’ in which you can serve flat or more interactive content as desired.

Natural search results
The 'natural' search results that appear in a separate section (usually the main body of the page) to the paid listings. The results listed here have not been paid for and are ranked by the search engine (using spiders or algorithms according to relevancy to the term searched on.

Network effect
the phenomenon whereby a service becomes more valuable as more people use it, thereby encouraging ever-increasing numbers of adopters.

Non-Personally Identifiable Information (Non-PII)
Information that may correspond to a particular person, account or profile, but is not sufficient to identify, contact or locate the person.

NVOD
Near Video On Demand service – the delivery of film and television programming from a server via a cable network or the internet. Like VOD these services are nonlinear.

Offer Based Ad
A clickable ad with a discount/offer for a product or service.

On Device Portal
Portal infrastructure downloaded to handset, using a technology such as Java or Flash. Some data is cached on device, so no connection is required for the user to browse the basic content set.

Online data providers/data aggregator
The definition of an “Online Data Provider” is broad and includes a number of players and data types, such as companies like Experian (Financial data), Nielsen (demographics and psychographic data) and OwnerIQ (purchase history). Who Uses: Advertisers and their agencies, Ad Networks, DSPs, Data Exchanges.

Online HD
The delivery of High Definition streamed video media. This typically conforms to 720p standards where 720 represents 720 lines of vertical resolution and p stands for progressive scan.

Online Preference Marketing (OPM)
Information is collected over time, and across web pages and WAP sites, to predict subscriber characteristics, behaviour and/or preferences for use in ad delivery on the mobile web.

Online Video Advertising
Video advertising accompanying video content distributed via the internet to be streamed or downloaded onto compatible devices such as computers and mobile phones. In its basic form, this can be TV ads run online, but adverts are increasingly adapted or created specifically to suit online. Video advertising can be placed before (pre-roll), during (mid-roll) and after (post-roll) video content.

Open Rate
The number of HTML message recipients who opened your email, usually as a percentage of the total number of emails sent.

Opt-in
The process where a subscriber provides explicit consent, after receiving notice form the mobile marketer.

Opt-out
The process where a subscriber revokes consent, after receiving notice from the mobile marketer.

Optimisation
Process of refining an advertising campaign so that it will perform more favourably for the advertiser, and extend reach, boost click-throughs and conversions etc.

Organic search results
The ‘natural’ search results that appear in a separate section (usually the main body of the page) to the paid listings. The results listed here have not been paid for and are ranked by the search engine (using spiders or algorithms) according to relevancy to the term searched upon.

OTT (Over the Top)
Access to premium content through any device that connects to the Internet, often marketed as TV Anywhere/TV Everywhere; offers subscribers the ability to watch programming on any device they own.

Outbound Link
A link to a site outside the current site.

Over-the-air (OTA)
A method of distributing new software updates to handsets.

Overlay
Online advertising content that appears over the top of the webpage.

Page View
Unit of measure that tracks the number of times a user loads a particular web or WAP page.

Paid for listings
The search results list in which advertisers pay to be featured according to the PPC model. This list usually appears in a separate section to the organic search results- usually at the top of the page on the right hand side.

Paid Inclusion
In exchange for a payment, a search engine will guarantee to list/review pages from a website. It is not guaranteed that the pages will rank well for particular queries – this still depends on the search engine's underlying relevancy process.

Paid Search
See PPC.

Palm OS
Palm’s operating system for its devices.

Pay for performance program
Also called Affiliate Marketing, Performance-based, Partner Marketing, CPA, or Associate Program. Any type of revenue sharing program where a publisher receives a commission for generating online activity (e.g. leads or sales) for an advertiser.

Pay per click (PPC)
Allows advertisers to bid for placement in the paid listings search results on terms that are relevant to their business. Advertisers pay the amount of their bid only when a consumer clicks on their listing. Also called sponsored search/ paid search.

Pay per lead
The commission structure where the advertiser pays the publisher a flat fee for each qualified lead (customer) that is referred to the advertiser’s website.

Pay per sale
The commission structure where the advertiser pays a percentage or flat fee to the publisher based on the revenue generated by the sale of a product or service to a visitor who came from a publisher site.

Pay per view (PPV)
An ecommerce model that allows media owners to grant consumers access to their programming in return for payment. Micro payments may be used for shorter programming whist feature films may attract larger sums.

Payment threshold
the minimum accumulated commission an affiliate must earn to trigger payment from an affiliate program.

Permission Level
The level of permission a mobile subscriber has granted to a specific carrier or service or wireless content site to receive advertising messages from them.

Personally-Identifiable Information (PII)
Information that can be used to identify or contact a person, including name, address, telephone number, or email address. Can also include demographics or behavioural data.

Pharming
An illegal method of redirecting traffic from another company’s website (such as a bank) to a fake one designed to look similar in order to steal user details when they try to log in.

Phishing
An illegal method whereby legitimate looking e-mails (appearing to come from a well-known bank, for example) are used in an attempt to source personal information that can be used to steal a user's identity.

Podcasting
Podcasting involves making an audio file (usually in MP3 format) of content that is available to download to an MP3 player.

Polite loading
Fixed online advertising placements that load and display additional Flash content after the host page on which the advert appears has finished loading.

Pop-under
An ad that appears in a separate window beneath an open window. Pop-under ads are concealed until the top window is closed, moved, resized or minimised.

Pop-up
An online advert that ‘pops up’ in a window over the top of a web page.

Post-roll
The screening of a mobile advertising clip after a mobile TV/Video clip.

Pre-roll
The screening of a mobile advertising clip before a mobile TV/Video clip.

Promotional Content
Content offered at no charge to the consumer, as a sample, to incentivise purchase.

PSMS
Premium SMS. A text message that is charged at a premium over the standard rate.

Publisher
A web property providing content for consumers using the internet. Business models range from subscription services to advertising monetisation. Publishers that choose to monetise their site with advertising have a choice to sell their inventory through direct, remnant or automated RTB channels. Who uses: Publishers, Advertisers via direct channels, Agencies via direct channels, Advertisers, Agencies, DSPs, Ad Networks via remnant and automated channels.

Pull Messaging
Any content sent to the wireless subscriber upon request.

Push Messaging
Any content sent by or on behalf of the advertisers to a wireless mobile device at a time other than when a subscriber requests it.

Query string formation
A query string is the set of words entered into a search engine by an individual. Query string formation is simply the process of thinking of the correct query string to get the results required.

Reach
The number of unique web users potentially seeing a website one or more times in a given time period expressed as a percentage of the total active web population for that period.

Read rate
The percentage of email recipients who have marked your email as "Read" in their email client. Typically thought of as more accurate than Open Rate, since read rate is not dependant on image downloads.

Real time
Information delivered with no delay in the processing of requests, other than the time necessary for the data to travel over the Internet.

Real-time bidding (RTB)
RTB is a protocol that enables the valuation and bidding on individual impressions in real time. The buying takes place over online media exchanges – basically media marketplaces – which connect sellers (publishers) and buyers (advertisers).

Really Simple Syndication (RSS)
The model for content discovery and purchase that is provided by operators on-deck.

Reciprocal links
links between two sites, often based on an agreement by the site owners to exchange links.

Redemption/Conversion
The number or percentage of consumers that took advantage of a particular offer.

Relevance
The likelihood that a given web page will be of interest or useful to a search engine user for a keyword search.

Return days
The number of days an affiliate can earn commission on a conversion (sale or lead) by a referred visitor.

Rich media
The collective name for online advertising formats that use advanced technology to harnesses broadband to build brands. Rich media uses interactive and audio-visual elements to give richer content and a richer experience for the user when interacting with the advert.

Run of network (RON)
An ad buying option in which ad placements may appear on any pages on sites within an ad network.

Run of site (ROS)
An ad buying option in which ad placements may appear on any pages of the target site.