technobabble: the language of web 2.0

BurrellDigitalBootcamp

Grokking Digital Meme’s/Technobabble 101Siddiq Bello ([email protected])

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Burrell Digital Bootcamp

The completion of the semantic web is critical to a functional intention

economy, which would sound the death knell of marketing as we know it. Given the widespread use of widgets, API’s and XML; viral will become

algorithmic and marketing will be either fully Open source or at least Crowdpowered.





That’s right, with the new SNA models being applied to the Social Graph,

eCPMs and CPC’s will be as irrelevant as Gopher. Conversation, context and credibility will drive the development of RIA’s, which will emulate the behavior

of connectors and mavens, fostering the kinds of engagement traditional marketers have only

dreamed of.

Web 2.0Web 2.0 is not a technical specification or an upgrade to an existing technology. It is an evolving idea about how the Internet as a platform can help users collaborate, share information and enhance creativity. Web 2.0 hallmarks are openness, peering, sharing, collaboration and global action. It seeks to capture the evolving manner in which users and developers interact with the web.

What you might hear: Flickr is Web 2.0 because of its openness and folksonomy whereas Snapfish, which is closed and centrally controlled, remains a Web 1.0 site.

Burrell Digital Bootcamp | Interactive

TagA Tag is a keyword or phrase assigned to a piece of information. It is used primarily to help describe the item that is “tagged” so that it can be classified with similar information. The information can be any type of content or data, from pictures and blog post to video’s and news stories.

What you might hear: I tagged all my pictures on Flickr with the word bikini so they would get lots of views.


Tag CloudA tag cloud (or weighted list in visual design) is a visual depiction of user-generated tags used typically to describe the content of web sites. Tags are usually single words and are typically listed alphabetically; the importance of a tag is shown with font size or color changes. The tags are usually linked to a collection of items that are associated with that tag.


FolksonomyA folksonomy is the collaborative building a classification system for content on the web using tags. When a set of tags have be organized, categorized and aggregated around a bit of media by “folks” it forms a folksonomy. Folks + taxonomy = folksonomy.

What you might hear: Dmoz may be a collaborative classification but its not a folksonomy because of its hierarchical structure for site definition.


The Long TailThe Long Tail refers to a concept, articulated by Wired editor Chris Anderson, which states that the internet has made it possible for niche and micro-niche markets to grow as large or even larger then the blockbuster and hit driven markets of traditional businesses.

What you might hear: Nimble.tv is trying to capture the Long Tail of rap video, they are aggregating content from small and independent rap artist and selling it online.


Wisdom of CrowdsWisdom of crowds is a term coined by James Surowiecki, in his book of the same name, in which he argues that the collective intelligence of diverse, independent, decentralized groups is often superior to that of a single expert or group of experts. The concept has spawned many Crowd plus verb offshoots to describe any activity that attempts to use audience knowledge to drive decision making (crowdsourcing, crowdfunding, crowdpowered).What you might hear: We’re harnessing the wisdom of crowds to help select the creative we put in our ad campaigns.


BlogBlog (web log) is an evolving term initially used to describe a web site where an individuals post ideas, commentary, media or links. It is a shorted form of web log. The people who write blogs are known as Bloggers and the collection of blogs around the world is often referred to as the Blogosphere. The term Blogosphere is also often used as a proxy for public opinion by news organizations and academics.

What you might hear: Bloggers were outraged and the mood of the Blogosphere became highly critical when it was revealed that the “traveling blog” was really written by a PR firm for Walmart.


VlogVlogs (video blog) are the video equivalent of the generally text based blogs and have become popular with the explosion of sites like YouTube and Stickam. Shows like Rocketboom, Wallstrip, Ask a Ninja and Ze Frank helped cement Vlogs as a highly popular form of expression.


Vertical SearchA vertical search looks for information that is specialized by location, topic, industry or increasingly cultural traits such as ethnicity. Rather then returning a wide range of links from varying sources as a general search like Google might, vertical searches attempt to deliver more specific results to the user from a smaller range of sites.

What you might hear: Oodle is a true vertical search engine because it looks for results within a specific domain as opposed to Indeed.com which searches other search engines (and is therefore a meta-search engine).


RSSRSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. Technically it is a lightweight XML format designed for sharing headlines and content summaries. What that means is that Really Simple Syndication is a method of syndicating content from one publisher, generally blogs and news sites, so that it is easily collected by others.

What you might hear: Subscribe to my RSS feed and get my latest blog and Twitter updates without having to visit my site.

What they are really saying: Please read my blog. No one does and I feel un-loved.


AggregatorAn aggregator, or feed reader is an application that collects information from various sources and displays it in a central location for easy viewing/retrieval. Feed aggregators, such as Bloglines and Google Reader, collect RSS feeds from various sources and place them in a unified interface for simplified browsing.

What you might hear: I use Google’s feed aggregator, Google Reader, to access about 50 RSS feeds from places like CNN, The Onion and BlackWeb2.0.

What they are really saying: I use a Google services to skim headlines and read short summaries, so don’t ask any detailed questions.


Semantic WebThe semantic web is another evolving idea that basically outlines a set of technologies and frameworks for making the web a more meaningful to computers. Basically it’s a huge idea about how to transform information on the web so that it is simpler for people to find and use information.

What you might hear: The semantic web will make the task of finding information on the web simpler by making websites easier for computers to understand and search.


WikiWiki is a collection of web pages designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify content, using a simplified markup language. Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites and to power community websites. For example, the collaborative encyclopedia Wikipedia is one of the best-known wikis. – From Wikipedia

What you might hear: Each new movie release will have a wiki component so users can input information about different aspects of the film and its production.


Mash-upA mash-up is a term generally applied to sites that combine information from disparate sources with graphical or visual elements to produce a new more compelling offering. Examples include Twittermaps, Wii Seeker and feedMashr.


Creative CommonsCreative Commons is a form of Copyright that allows creators to assign different levels of restriction to their creative output. The licenses range from simple Attribution, to the more restrictive No Derivative Works.

What you might hear: I released my album with a creative commons license that lets anyone copy it so long as they credit me in any new work.


WidgetGoogle calls them gadgets, Facebook callsthem apps and Tecnorati calls them badges but they are generally speaking all widgets. A Widget (or web widget) is a type of application that publishers elect to display on their sites either for income, aesthetics or affiliations. Widgets are selected voluntarily by the publisher to add functionality or otherwise enhance their site and are effectively ads for the Widget developer.

What you might hear: In 2007 widgets replaced UGC as the buzzword dejour, but their growth hasn’t slowed.


Geo TargetingGeo targeting is attempting to display, or prevent the display, of content based on automated or assumed knowledge of an end user’s physical location. Relevant to both PC and mobile data services, geo targeting is used in several forms of location based commerce and advertising.

What you might hear: Our ads use geo targeting to ensure that only customers in the target DMA see the discount offer, everyone else gets the brand building creative.


UGCUser Generated Content also known as user generated media (UGM), consumer generated media (CGM), consumer generated content (CGC) are among the many new terms used to indicate media produced by non-professionals.

Why you wont hear it: The term UGC has become a bit passe in digital circles. The major UGC models that didnt include a pay component (think Etsy and Threadless) have all been sold and so the term has lost all of its marketing value.

What you should use instead: Insert the term Widgets in any document or business model that called for UGC.


PageRankPageRank is a system of counting how popular a site is based on the other sites that link to it. It was popularized and applied to search engines by a Stanford grad student named Larry Page (co-founder of Google) and thus the name Page-rank. PageRank is trademarked by Google but the patent is owned by Stanford University.

What you might hear: The SEO program the agency implemented made our PageRank jump from 0 to 8.

Burrell Digital Bootcamp | Marketing

SEOSEO or search engine optimization is the process by which webmasters attempt to increase the amount of traffic to their sites from search engines. This is generally done by increasing their rank on the search engines results page (i.e. how close they are to the top), also known as “natural” or “organic” search results because they show up in the search pages listing without paying the search engine for it. SEO tactics range from fixing a sites structure to revamping its content and design.

What you might hear: SEO must be a fundamental part of all modern advertising campaigns if they are to be impactful online.


SEMSEM is an umbrella term generally used to describe any of the paid placement programs offered by search engines. It can be thought of as the other side of SEO, although any SEM strategy should include SEO as an important component.

What you might hear: Our approach to SEM is driven by the client’s goal, we’ve never done a one size fits all campaign.


CPMCPM stands for cost per thousand (in the metric system) is the most basic method of purchasing advertising online. Every time an ad is loaded in a webpage its called an impression, using CPM every 1,000 of these loading events triggers a cost to the advertiser. No further action is required from the user once the impression is counted for the publisher to be paid, if the advertising agreement is CPM based.

What you might hear: When a client wants mass exposure for a new product or service we recommend using CPM for its relatively low cost and wide reach.


CPCCPC (PPC) cost per click or pay per click is slightly more sophisticated then CPM models which are based solely on impressions. CPC programs only pay the publisher if the user clicks on the ad loaded in a web page.

What you might hear: When a client wants a more qualified audience to visit their site we recommend a PPC model.


CPACPA (PPA) is cost per action (or pay per action) is an advertising model that charges based on users taking a specific action (usually a sale, registration or sign-up). Rather then pay the publisher when an ad is displayed, or when the users clicks on the ad, CPA agreements only pay the publisher when the user actually does an agreed upon action.

What you might hear: We developed a CPA based campaign focused on specific sub-sections of niche sites for a client that wanted to increase sales of their product within that group.


CTRCTR or click through rate is the average number of users who click on an advertising based on 100 impressions of that ad. This is a baseline metric for establishing an online campaigns performance.


Rich MediaA banner or other type ad that includesvideo, audio or other interactive elementsdesigned to engage users. The IAB has defined rich media as any “advertisements with which users can interact (as opposed to solely animation and excluding click-through functionality) in a web page format. These advertisements can be used either singularly or in combination with various technologies, including but not limited to sound, video, or Flash, and with programming languages such as Java, Javascript, and DHTML.”

What you might hear: Rich media ads have much high click through rates than static banners and skyscrapers.


EngagementEngagement is an evolving measure of the effectiveness of rich media experiences. It is based on the number and types of user interactions with an ad or piece of content. Currently there is no agreement on what exactly encompasses “engagement” but it remains an increasingly important metric.

What you might hear: Starcom’s recent deal with Kellogg’s hinges on engagement not exposure or clicks.


Data MiningData mining is the use of special computer software to weed through huge volumes of information found in the data sets generated by new technology to find specific bits of information for business and academic intelligence.

What you might hear: Our data mining initiative includes sentiment tracking and quote mining for clients as well as social network analysis for our agency.


CFCollaborative filtering is a data mining process used to filter through large volumes of information to make predictions about behavior or preferences. Collaborative filtering is based on the assumption that patterns that have occurred in the past will repeat in the future.

What you might hear: MovieLens was one of the first Collaborative filtering applications open to the public, and provides movie recommendations based on movies you’ve rated.


SNASocial network analysis is the process of looking at the links and connections between users to uncover relationships, preferences, tastes and influences. SNA is also increasingly used to make product and service recommendations to users.


Contextual AdvertisingContextual advertising, also known as targeted advertising, is a term used to describe advertisements that appear on websites or in other media (mobile phones, TV etc..) where the ad chosen and served based on the content the users is watching/searching for.


Affiliate ProgramAffiliate Program refers to a network that has access to product-specific ad campaigns (i.e. Lasik, Credit Cards, Books etc…). The payout is usually a percentage of the revenue generated by merchandize sold on the site or qualified leads generated by the publisher.


A/B TestingA/B testing is standard direct marketing A/B testing applied to web sites. A control site (site A) and a site with one variation (site B), like a different background color, is shown to randomly selected users to gauge differences in behavior between the two sites and determine which site is more effective in reaching the customer.


Behavioral TargetingBehavioral Targeting is a marketing method that gathers previous user actions and consumer decisions to detect patterns and develop strategies that optimize the user experience (by delivering the right ad, content or offer). The data can be collected using web forms, "cookies", clickstreams or other public and proprietary data.


TrackbackTrackback is one of the most widespread Linkback methods used by publishers to get notification when other users link to their articles or documents. Trackbacks allow content publishers to automatically keep track of who is linking to their content, and so referring to them. It is used largely in blogs.


Bounce RateBounce rate is the percentage of users who visit the homepage (or any landing page) of a site without visiting any other pages before a specified session-timeout occurs, generally 30 minutes.


BMTBMT is short for bid management tool, which is a class of software and services that help marketers manage their bids on PPC and paid inclusion auction sites. These tools can control how much is bid on specific keywords, how high a bid should go and other rules around purchasing eyeballs online.


Landing PageLanding page, also known as the lead capture page, is the initial page that is displayed when a user clicks on an organic search result or an ad. This page is critical in managing online advertising campaigns and is generally both optimized and rigorously tested to ensure proper indexing by search engines and high conversion of users.


ImpressionImpression is an advertising term referring to an instance where an advertisement is viewed. This applies particularly to online advertising. A single user often gets several impressions as she goes from page to page on any given website.


Open SourceOpen Source is a term used to describe computer code that is made public and can be modified and extended by anyone. It is now applied to almost any creative process that can be manipulated, redirected or controlled by the public.

What you might hear: Because it is Open Source lots of people have made variants of Linux and it dominates the server market.

Burrell Digital Bootcamp | Technical

HTMLHTML is the basic building block of web pages. It is a markup language used to structure text and multimedia documents and to set up hypertext links between documents.

What you might hear: The site is currently a basic HTML site but we are going to upgrade it to something more dynamic soon using DHTML.


DHTMLDHTML stands for Dynamic HTML refers to several different technologies used together to create interactive web sites as opposed to the static sites created using by using HTML.


XMLXML stands for EXtensible Markup Language. It is a way of describing what information can be found in a webpage, as opposed to HTML which describes how the information should look. It is used heavily in ecommerce and B2B sites and is the standard for EDI among businesses.

What you might hear: The XML tags did not match our excel fields and so the last name displays where the first name should.


AjaxAjax is an acronym for Asynchronous JAvaScript and XML, but more then the technical meaning of the acronym is the reference to a method of displaying information online that allows it to be more interactive and information rich.

What you might hear: Next to Google Finance, Sidestep is one of the coolest uses of Ajax around.


RORROR is an acronym for Ruby on Rails. It is an application framework designed to make programming for the web faster and more efficient. It is often shortened to Rails, or RoR.

What you might hear: Ruby on rails rocks as a development platform for speed and simplicity but if your application scales Ruby might buckle.


RIARIA or Rich Internet Applications are web based applications that provide much of the functionality traditionally seen only in desktop applications. Many Web 2.0 sites (often referred to as applications) can be considered RIA’s.

What you might hear: Earth Live is one of the more popular RIA examples on the web.


BotA Bot, short for Robot, is a generic term applied to any computer application that imitates human actions, either by querying a search engine, clicking on a banner ad or talking in a chat room.

What you might hear: We built a bot to map the relationships between all African-Americans on the web.


APIAPI or Application Programming Interface is a set commands that enables communication between computer programs, in particular between user applications and control programs. In short it’s a way for companies to allow outside developers to build services and functions on top of their existing programming infrastructure.

What you might hear: Facebook released an API and its stickiness exploded due to all the new applications.


P2PP2P is short for Peer to peer, which is a generic term describing an exchange between two points (peers) without an intermediary dictating the exchange. P2P is often associated with file sharing but has recently been expanded to include lending and other applications.

What you might hear: Prosper is one of the most popular P2P lending sites with over 100 million in loans made.


CSSCSS is short for Cascading Style Sheets which is a simple way to add style information (e.g. fonts, colors, spacing) to web based documents.


CMSCMS is the acronym for a Content Management System, which is software designed to create and manage the content for a Web site.


SMSSMS or Short Message Service is a tele-communications protocol facilitating the exchange of short text messages between mobile telephone devices. Typical character length per message is 140 – 160 characters.


VOIPVOIP or Voice-over-Internet protocol is a way of transmitting voice through the Internet, it is used most often to describe applications that transmit of voice through the Internet, rather than the technical protocol.


WAPWAP stands for Wireless Application Protocol. It is an open standard for applications that use wireless communication. It is mostly used to enable access to the Internet from a mobile phone or PDA.






That’s right, with the new SNA models being applied to the Social Graph,

eCPMs and CPC’s will be as irrelevant as Gopher. Conversation, context and credibility will drive the development of RIA’s, which will emulate the behavior

of connectors and mavens, fostering the kinds of engagement traditional marketers have only

dreamed of.

Now what does it mean?

ContactSiddiq [email protected]

Grokking Digital Meme’s/Technobabble 101A presentation for brands as well as marketing and PR agencies seeking to increase their digital intelligence

technobabble: the language of web 2.0

Business