Jargon Buster

Spam

Unsolicited junk mail.

Spider

Also known as a bot, robot or crawler. These are programmes used by a search engine to discover, download and index web content.

Standard ad units

A set of ad specifications for standard image or animated in-page ad units that establish a framework for advertising inventory and webpage design.

Stickiness

Measure used to gauge the effectiveness of a site in retaining its users. Usually measured by the duration of the visit.

Streaming media

Compressed audio/video which plays and downloads at the same time. The user does not have to wait for the whole file to download before it starts playing.

Superstitials

A form of rich media advertising which allows a TV-like experience on the web. It is fully pre-cached before playing. See also Rich Media, Cache.

Supply-side platform (SSP)

An advertising technology platform which represents the suppliers of online ads (publishers). SSPs give publishers the ability to increase their website advertising revenues by engaging with multiple demand-side channels (Ad Networks, Ad Exchanges and DSP’s) through a single vendor. 

Sustainability

This is a broad term and, in a business context, refers to an industry or business’ ability to prevent the depletion of natural or physical resources so that they will remain available for the long-term. Sustainability is often broken down into three key areas: economic, environmental and social.

Targeting

Various criteria to make the delivery of an advertisement more precise (age, geographical location or behavioural cues etc.)

Are we missing something?

If there is a term that you think is missing from our directory, we would love to hear from you. Submit a term and a definition and we will review it.

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