Terminology

Measurement Terminology

Ad View: A request for a page with an ad that was successfully delivered.
Caching: The process of storing popular web page data on a server's system to increase speed of access and reduce traffic.
Click-Through: A click by a user on an advertising link. Also called ad clicks.
Click-Through Rate: The percent of advertising impressions that result in click-throughs.
Cookies: A text file on a user's hard drive that records requests for files.
Cost per thousand (CPM): For Internet purposes, the cost to deliver 1,000 impressions.
Domain Name: Translation of a numeric IP address into a word-based name. For example, jou.ufl.edu is a domain name.
.com for commercial sites
.edu for educational institutions
.mil for military sites
.net for network service providers
.org for nonprofit or miscellaneous organizations
.gov for governmental agencies

Frequency
The number of times an individual is exposed to an advertising message.

Gross Ratings Point (GRPs)
The sum of all ratings delivered by a medium.

Hit
A record of a request for data from a web page or file. A hit is not equivalent to a page view. A page view may be recorded as multiple hits depending on several factors, one being the number of graphic images on the page.

Internet Protocol (IP) Address
The unique identity of a machine, not an individual, accessing a site.

Impressions
An advertising term that has come to mean, for Internet purposes, the delivery of an ad to a browser. An impression is a media exposure.

Page View
A request for a page that was successfully delivered.

Rating
The percent of the total audience who consume a medium at a particular time.

Reach
The number of individuals exposed to an impression during a specified period of time.

Referring URL
The URL from which the user entered the site.

Request
A record of a requested HTML page.

Share
The percent of the watching/listening audience who consume a medium at a particular time.

Unique User
A single visitor to a site as identified by registration information.

Visit
A series of requests by one user during a specific time period. If a user has no activity for a certain amount of time, the next hit would be a new visit. The specified time period is called time-out and is not consistent across sites.

Visit Length
The amount of time a user stays on a particular web site.
Frequency: The number of times an individual is exposed to an advertising message.
Gross Ratings Point (GRPs): The sum of all ratings delivered by a medium.
Hit: A record of a request for data from a web page or file. A hit is not equivalent to a page view. A page view may be recorded as multiple hits depending on several factors, one being the number of graphic images on the page.
Internet Protocol (IP) Address: The unique identity of a machine, not an individual, accessing a site.
Impressions: An advertising term that has come to mean, for Internet purposes, the delivery of an ad to a browser. An impression is a media exposure.
Page View: A request for a page that was successfully delivered.
Rating: The percent of the total audience who consume a medium at a particular time.
Reach: The number of individuals exposed to an impression during a specified period of time.
Referring URL: The URL from which the user entered the site.
Request: A record of a requested HTML page.
Share: The percent of the watching/listening audience who consume a medium at a particular time.
Unique User: A single visitor to a site as identified by registration information.
Visit: A series of requests by one user during a specific time period. If a user has no activity for a certain amount of time, the next hit would be a new visit. The specified time period is called time-out and is not consistent across sites.
Visit Length: The amount of time a user stays on a particular web site.