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Domain Glossary


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400 Bad Request Error

400 is the “Bad Request” error message delivered to your browser by a web server when the request could not be understood by the server. This is most commonly caused by a problem within the web script you are using.

401 Unauthorized Error

401 is the “Unauthorized” error message delivered to your browser by a web server when you do not have the required privileges to access a file. This is most commonly caused by an invalid username and/or password.

403 Forbidden Error

403 is the “Forbidden” error message delivered to your browser by a web server when you reach a page that you do not have permission to access.

404 Page Not Found Error

404 is the “Page Not Found” error message delivered to your browser by a web server when the file you are attempting to reach does not exist. This if often caused by a misspelling or typo of the URL, or because the original file has been renamed or removed from the web server.

500 Internal Server Error

500 is the “Internal Server” error message delivered to your browser by a web server when the server encountered an unexpected problem preventing it from serving the URL you requested. This is often caused by a script that contains errors within the code.

501 Method Not Implemented Error

501 is the “Method Not Implemented” error message delivered to your browser by a web server when the server does not support the resource being requested.

503 Service Unavailable Error

503 is the “Service Unavailable” error message delivered to your browser by a web server when the server takes too long to respond and the request times out. Among other possible reasons, this is often caused by the server being temporarily overloaded.

ACPA (Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act)

The Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (also known as Truth in Domain Names Act), is a United States federal law enacted in 1999, making it illegal to register and misuse trademarked names. It makes anyone who registers domain names that are either trademarks or individual’s names with the sole intent of selling the rights of the domain name to the trademark holder or individual for a profit, liable to civil action.

Ad Server

An Ad Server is a computer program or server that is used to store, display and track advertisements via the Internet. Among other purposes, an ad server may be used by a publisher who delivers advertisements for another company, or by an advertiser who wants to accurately track the advertisements that it has paid for.

Administrative Contact

In the world of domain names, the Administrative Contact is the representative authorized to interact with the registrar to manage the domain name. Management functions include updates to whois contact information and name Servers. Other contacts assigned to a domain name’s whois record can include Registrant, Billing Contact and Technical Contact.

AdSense

AdSense is a popular ad serving program run by Google. Third parties pay Google to advertise their website URL, then website owners join AdSense in order to deliver those same URLs via text or image advertisements on their website. Google distributes the ads to websites with matching content, thus creating highly targeted marketing. For example, an AdSense publisher who displays info on their website about cars will automatically receive Google ads also related to cars. Any time a visitor to the website clicks on one of the advertisements, the AdSense publisher generates revenue which Google shares between themselves and the website owner (at an undisclosed percentage) and paid by Google every 30 days.

Adwords

Adwords is a pay-per-click (PPC) program provided by Google. After joining Adwords, advertisers upload their text and/or image ads, specify applicable keywords, and select an amount they are willing to pay. The advertisements can either show up in Google’s search results or on a publisher’s website that is enrolled in the AdSense program. This has been a popular ad program because the advertiser only pays when their ad is clicked, and the ads are targeted because Google delivers the ads to websites and search results that are directly related to the keywords pre-selected by the advertiser.

Affiliate Link

An affiliate link is provided to website owners by other companies who wish to market their products or services. The link contains specific information that tracks the impression, click, and possible sale generated from the originating website. The company then pays the website owner for impressions, clicks, or actions generated from the link depending on the terms of the affiliate relationship.

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is the method in which an individual makes money primarily through displaying text or image links on their website or in emails. Any time an end user takes an action such as clicking on the link or purchasing the product or service they are paid by the advertiser. Affiliate marketing is sometimes handled directly between parties, but more commonly through an Affiliate Network.

Affiliate networks

An affiliate network is a company that manages a network of affiliate programs and acts as an intermediary between publishers and merchants. Generally speaking, web site publishers join an affiliate network for free, and then select specific programs to promote on their web site. Affiliate networks are beneficial to publishers in that they offer a large variety of affiliate programs to choose from, and consolidated, timely payments from one source, rather than multiple merchants. Merchants, on the other hand, generally pay a fee to the affiliate network to manage their program. Affiliate networks are beneficial to merchants in that they promote their program to a large base of potential affiliates, manage the tracking and reporting of clicks, impressions, and sales, and manage affiliate payments.

Affiliate Sites

An affiliate site refers to a web site that earns revenue by placing advertising links and advertisements obtained from affiliate programs or affiliate networks. Affiliate revenue can be earned per impression, per click, but most often per action such as when the end user places an order.

Aftermarket

Aftermarket domain names are those domains that were either previously registered but are inactive online or are registered and their owners want to sell them on the “aftermarket.”

Aggregator

An aggregator, also known as a feed aggregator, feed reader or news reader, is client software or a Web application which collects syndicated web content such as news headlines, blogs, and in one location for easy viewing. An aggregator can be web-based, desktop-based, or on any Internet-connected device.

AGP (Add Grace Period)

AGP is the acronym for Add Grace Period and refers to the 5 days after the initial registration of a domain name at which time a registrar used to be able to cancel any registration without incurring an expense. The AGP was initially put in place to protect registrars from incurring an expense when domains are registered with bad payments, credit card fraud, etc. Due to substantial abuse of the AGP with domain kiting and domain tasting, ICANN and several registries began limiting the number of domains any single registrar can delete without incurring additional fees which greatly reduced this practice.

AJAX

Shorthand for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. AJAX is a web development technique that increases usability and speed. It allows specific sections of web page content to update without reloading an entire page. Use of it has led to an increase in interactive animation on web pages.

ALAC aka At-Large Advisory Committee

ICANN’s At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) is responsible for considering and providing advice on the activities of the ICANN, as they relate to the interests of individual Internet users (the “At-Large” community). ICANN, as a private sector, non-profit corporation with technical management responsibilities for the Internet’s domain name and address system, will rely on the ALAC and its supporting infrastructure to involve and represent in ICANN a broad set of individual user interests. On 31 October 2002, the ICANN Board adopted New Bylaws that establish the ALAC and authorize its supporting At-Large organizations. (Article XI, Section 2(4) of the New Bylaws.) The New Bylaws, which are the result of ICANN’s 2002 reform process, went into effect on 15 December 2002. ALAC is to eventually consist of ten members selected by Regional At-Large Organizations, supplemented by five members selected by ICANN’s Nominating Committee. To allow the ALAC to begin functioning immediately, the Transition Article of the Interim Bylaws provides for the Board to appoint ten members (two from each of ICANN’s five regions) to an Interim ALAC. Underpinning the ALAC will be a network of self-organizing, self-supporting At-Large Structures throughout the world involving individual Internet users at the local or issue level. The At-Large Structures (either existing organizations or newly formed for this purpose) will self-organize into five Regional At-Large Organizations (one in each ICANN region - Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America/Caribbean, and North America). The Regional At-Large Organizations will manage outreach and public involvement and will be the main forum and coordination point in each region for public input to ICANN.

Algorithm

A specific set of rules or standards that a search engine uses in order to rank listings in response to a query. Search engines typically protect their algorithms since they are unique formulas that are used to determine relevancy in search engine results.

ALT Attribute

A modifier for the IMG tag (which causes images to be shown). It's primary purpose is to provide usability assistance to the visually impaired, but it has real uses in SEO (search engine optimization).

ALT Tag

An improper term often used to refer to the ALT attribute.

ALT Text

The text placed in an ALT attribute.

Anchor Text

The words one clicks on within a text-based link. The anchor text of a link impacts the relevancy of the page to which it links. Too similar anchor text could be a sign of manipulation and could be filtered or discounted.

Apache

An open-source web server and is considered one of the most popular web servers presently.

API

Acronym for Application Programming Interface. The API outlines what a software program does. Specifically, the API includes the functions and procedures the program can execute.

Advertisers can create this program in order to manage their search engine marketing campaigns and bypassing search engines' interfaces.

Appraisal

An evaluation carried out to establish the potential market value of a domain name.

APNIC aka The Asia Pacific Network Information Centre

APNIC is a Regional Internet Registry (RIR), and is a non-profit membership organization responsible for the administration and registration of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses in the Asia-Pacific region, including Japan, Korea, China, and Australia.

AREC (A-Record)

A-Record is the term used for “Address Records” in DNS. The A-Record maps a hostname (or domain name) to its numeric IP address and is handled at the name server on which your domain name resides. For example, the A record might map the domain google.com to 209.85.171.99 (one of many Google IP addresses).

ARIN aka American Registry for Internet Numbers

ARIN is a Regional Internet Registry (RIR), and is a non-profit membership organization established for the purpose of the administration and registration of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses in North America, parts of the Caribbean, and sub-Saharan Africa.

ASCII aka American Standard Code for Information Interchange

ASCII is the acronym for “American Standard Code for Information Interchange” although this description is rarely used. ASCII is more commonly known, as the character encoding based on the English alphabet.

ASP aka Application Service Provider

ASP is the acronym for “Application Service Provider” and refers to any business that provides computer applications that are run from its servers as opposed to being run on the end user’s computer.

ASO aka Address Supporting Organization

The ASO advises the ICANN Board of Directors on policy issues relating to the allocation and management of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. The ASO selects two Directors for the ICANN Board.

Authentication

Authentication is the process by which an individual, company or computer code is validated and in turn confirmed as someone or something that can be trusted.

Automated Bid Management

A software program that automatically limits ad spend on paid search campaigns. More advanced bid management tools can be integrated with other aspects of a paid search campaign including web analytics.

Auto-Responders

An auto-responder is an application which sends an automated email response to any (or specific) incoming emails. These can be setup on the mail server, or on the user’s local computer (via programs such as Outlook). Autoresponders are most commonly used in business to alert senders that the recipient is not available to respond at that time, such as after hours, on weekends, or when they are on vacation. A typical auto-response might state something like “I am not at my desk right now, but will return on Monday”. As well as other uses for auto-responders, some companies set up unique email addresses that will send an automated response to any senders, with specific information such as a current price list.

Authorization

A process to verify that an individual or organization that has requested an action actually has the right to make the request. Requiring a password to modify a domain names' registration information is an example of authorization.

B

Back-links

Back-links, also called inbound links, includes any link on the Internet that points to any page within your web site. The number of backlinks that a particular web site has pointing to it tends to be indicative of its popularity on the Internet. Many search engines view back-links as a “vote” for a web site, provided that link comes from a relevant and reputable web site rather than a link farm. The more backlinks that a particular web site receives, the higher it tends to appear in the search engine results.

Back-Order

A back-order, also referred to as a domain backorder, refers to the process of placing an order to register a domain name once it has expired and is in the process of being dropped from its current registrar. Users wishing to backorder a domain name must use a service that specializes in domain back-orders (although there are some registrars who provide backorder services for domain names that it manages). These services generally charge a flat fee or, in the event that there is more than one potential buyer, they sell in an auction format. By using a backorder service, users increase their chances of registering the domain before others are able to do so.

Ban

Also considered delisting. In a response to being spammed, a search engine will impose this penalty on a website. It can be an IP address or a specific URL.

Banner

An advertisement that appears in the form of a graphic image on a web page. Banner ads usually conform to standard sizes on a web page and can be animated.

Bandwidth

Bandwidth refers to the capacity for an Internet connection to transfer data. Bandwidth is measured as a bit rate and expressed as bits/s (bits per second) or Kbits/s (kilobits per second). Bandwidth is often confused with Disk or Data Transfer which is the “amount” of data transferred.

Banner exchange

Symbiotic advertising relationship involving businesses that promote one another's websites on an exchange rather than a paid basis. Also known as link exchange.

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Behavioral Targeting

A term used to describe the technique that online publishers use to increase a campaign's effectiveness. Information on a user's search patterns and web-browsing behavior is collected. This data can be used alone or coupled with other forms of targeting such as demographics.

Bid Jamming

A technique used in paid search advertising with fixed bids. Bid jamming allows an advertiser to pay less than his competition for similar ad positions while holding the competitor's costs high. An advertiser "jams" his competitor by bidding one cent less than them, thus forcing them to pay their entire bid price for each bid while the advertiser pays one cent more than the bid immediately below his. If the next bid is much lower, his competition can be spending substantially more for the higher ad position.

Bid limit

The highest amount one can profitably bid for a particular keyword in paid search advertising. Calculated using conversion rate and the value per transaction.

BIN

Buy it now! (Fixed Price)

Billing Contact

The billing contact listed on a domain name whois record is the individual or organization responsible for paying the registrar and/or registry fees. Other contacts include Registrant, Administrative contact, and Technical contact. Just because you pay the bill doesn’t mean you have rights to a domain, so in most cases it is recommended for the end user to be listed as the Registrant.

Black-Hat SEO

Black-hat search engine optimization is also referred to as Spamdexing. This describes tactics sometimes used to get search engines to rank a page or site higher in results for specific keywords. Common methods of Black-hat SEO involve repeating keywords or phrases, and are seen as ‘trickery’ by the leading search engines. Google and most other search engines will penalize or even ban pages that use Black Hat SEO tactics.

Black-Listed

Black-listed is the term used to describe a domain name, IP address, URL or email address that is blocked or banned from accessing a specific location on the Internet. Blacklists are most commonly used within software, databases, web-sites, and servers. Anyone who misuses a service can be blacklisted (such as having your website blacklisted from Google due to non-compliance). Spammers are probably the most common entry on any server’s blacklist.

Blog

Short for web log, a blog is a site (or a subsection of a site) that allows individual to publish musings and opinions on particular topics. Generally, readers can comment on the published posts. Properly implemented and maintained, blogs are useful both for generating traffic and build links to a site for SEO purposes, but are subject to attacks such as blog comment spam.

Brandable Generics

Single-word, non-product/industry/service specific domains – primarily .com and usually singular. Examples would include Planet.com . Its opposite would be ‘premium generics’ – names likes Canadians.com.

Browser

A browser or “web browser” is the program used to view pages in the Internet. Currently the most common browsers are Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox although there are several other programs available.

C

Cache

On the Internet, cache is the term used for the space on your computer where your browser stores previously visited web pages and other files, allowing quick access when you return to those pages. Configuration of your cache can be controlled via the settings option in your browser.

CAN-SPAM

A US law regulating commercial email (e.g. email marketing). The acronym stands for Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003.

CAPTCHA

An abbreviation of "Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart". A CAPTCHA system contains a graphical representation of several letters and a field in which those letters must be entered. The intention is to prevent access to automated systems.

Case-Sensitive

Case Sensitive describes a computer program that differentiates between upper (capital) and lower case letters. For example, a case sensitive script sees “a” as a different character to “A”. In the world of Hosting, this is most apparent when using UNIX web servers (which are predominantly case-sensitive) as opposed to Windows web servers (which are predominantly not case-sensitive).

Category

Domain names have long been separated into categories which include, but are not limited to, mainstream domains, foreign-language, adult, gambling, ccTLD, LLL (3-letter LLL), geo-domains, typos and more. Domains are also broken into broad subject categories like sports, music, travel, business, auto, health, consumer goods, Internet, science, technology, traffic, etc.

Category Killer

The singular best domain name in any given industry category. Examples killers would be domains like Canadians.com. Afforded their own categorization, they also warrant the highest valuations in the industry. These names are generally classified as ‘World-Class’ in the rating system and referred to as ‘premium generics’ or ‘premium domains’.

ccNSO aka The Country-Code Names Supporting Organization

The ccNSO is in the process of being established, with the ccNSO Assistance Group preparing the recommendations that are currently under discussion. Upon completion, the purpose of the ccNSO is to engage and provide leadership in activities relevant to country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs). This is achieved by 1) Developing policy recommendations to the ICANN Board, 2) Nurturing consensus across the ccNSO’s community, including the name-related activities of ccTLDs; and 3) Coordinating with other ICANN SO’s, Committees, or constituencies under ICANN. The ccNSO selects one person to serve on the board.

ccSLD aka Country Code Second Level Domain

ccSLD is the abbreviation for “Country Code Second Level Domain” and refers to a domain extension with an additional prefix in front of the ccTLD. For example, .uk is a ccTLD and .co.uk is the ccSLD, (although due its popularity it is often incorrectly referred to as a ccTLD! Confused yet?). Many countries use .co.xx as the second level domain, many others use .com.xx. There is no official standard, so you can find many variations on this format including net.xx, gov.xx, org.xx, police.xx, sch.xx, etc. Other countries have no ccSLD at all, and provide registrations directly under the main ccTLD (such as .ws).

ccTLD aka Country Code Top Level Domain

ccTLD is the abbreviation for “Country Code Top Level Domain” and refers to the two letter domain extension used by any given country or territory. For example, the ccTLD for Australia is .au, the ccTLD for Hong Kong is .hk, etc. Although the ccTLD is often a direct abbreviation of the country or territory name, in other cases it is not such as .cx which is the ccTLD for Christmas Island. Some might also suggest that .de (one of the most popular ccTLDs) does not match the country name Germany, but in fact it does match the country name – which to Germans is Deutschland (thus .de). ccTLDs are established and delegated by IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority).

Cease and Desist Letters

In the context of domaining, a cease and desist letter is a document delivered to a domain owner explaining why the sender feels that the domain infringes on their rights, and demanding that they stop using the domain name in the current format. Such letters are most commonly sent by lawyers prior to taking further action in court or via the UDRP. They may in some cases also demand that the recipient hands over the domain. Whatever the case, best practice is to contact an attorney if you receive this or any type of legal document. Although every situation is different, most people recommended that you respond to any “cease and desist” letters rather than ignore them entirely.

Click-Through

The term click-through is used to describe when an Internet user clicks on a link and lands on the subsequent page. See PPC (pay-per-click) and CTR (click-through rate) for related glossary terms.

Click Fraud

Clicks on paid search advertising that are not made by actual searchers, but by others with an incentive to cost and advertiser money. Click fraud can come from competitors trying to drive up an advertisers media spend or from website owners attempting to drive up their Google AdSense revenue.

Cloaking

The highly risky search engine optimization technique of serving different content to website visitors and to search engine robots. The belief is that the text being served to the robots can be optimized for search engines, and the text served to actual visitors be optimized for website transactions. This is one of the more common causes of the Google Death Penalty.

Cloud Computing

Cloud Computing is an alternative method of storing data and programs that focuses on online storage. Originally, software, data, and other information that a user needed to access was stored on a computer’s hard drive. For example, your word documents are saved on your computer as is the Microsoft Word software program. The cloud is a metaphor for the internet as a location to store information, instead of the computer’s hard drive. The concept behind cloud computing is that documents and software, even operating systems can be stored online. Google Docs is a good example of cloud computing. With Google Docs, if a user wanted to edit a document, they would open it up from an online location and edit it without ever having to download anything. This means computers will need less memory space because the computer will function as a portal to the information in the internet “cloud” but won’t actually store it.

CMS (Content Management Systems)

A content management system is an application used to create, edit and publish content using a back-end interface that allows the user to manage the content in an organized way. CMS programs generally tie in with a database, utilize version control to view data prior to any specific update, and have many more benefits than we can possibly cover in this short glossary description. Examples of popular CMS products include Joomla, Drupal, Expression Engine and Movable Type.

CNAME (Canonical Name Record)

A CNAME record is the acronym for “Canonical Name Record”. A CNAME maps (or aliases) a web address to its canonical name, and is handled at the name server on which your domain name resides. When you access a web address and the web server finds a CNAME record, it replaces the domain name with the canonical name and then looks up the new hostname. CNAMEs are often used with sub-domains and can be useful in redirecting traffic from a non-www version of your domain name to a www-version of your domain name. For example, you could setup a CNAME so that if a visitor went to http://forum.dnf.com, the CNAME record would direct them instead to http://www.dnf.com.

Comment Tag

A HTML tag that is hidden from users (unless they look at a page's source code). In theory, search engines could read a page's comment tag and use it in its relevancy calculation, but it is not believed that any of the major search engines currently do so.

Content Advertising

Paid search advertising that is served via third-party website, rather than through a search engine. The two largest content advertising offerings are Google AdSense and Yahoo Content Match.

Content Network

Group of websites that a search engine has partnerships with to display paid search ads. Examples include the Google content network and Yahoo! contextual search. These paid search ads are displayed based on the content of each specific site. This is also referred to as a Contextual Network.

Content Targeting

Ad allocation process that displays keyword triggered ads related to the subject or content of the website a user is viewing.

Control Panels

A control panel in the domain and hosting industry refers to the interface provided to the users for common administrative duties. For example, your control panel is the place you would go to manage your domain names, update contact info, renew services, set up email accounts, change passwords, etc.

Cookies

Cookies, also known as “Web Cookies” or “HTTP Cookies” refer to a small amount of text sent by a web server to an Internet user’s browser and then back again when the web server requests it. Cookies can contain information about which pages a user has visited on that particular website, or be used to keep a session open so that you do not have to constantly log back in to the same site. Contrary to some (incorrect) beliefs, they are not programs and are not able to spyware or viruses. They are simple text snippets, unchanged by the user’s computer. There is some concern over the fact that cookies keep track of the user’s activity on the server, but in most cases this information is used to enhance your online experience by providing you with the content you most likely need.

CPA

The cost of a marketing method divided by the number of actions it generated.

CPC

The amount paid per time a user clicks on your ad in a Pay Per Click campaign..

CPL

The number of leads generated by a marketing method, divided by the number of visitors, expressed as a percentage.

CPM

The cost of an impression of an advertisement. The cost of one thousand impressions are often grouped together to give a cost per thousand.

CPS

The number of sales generated by a marketing method, divided by the number of visitors, expressed as a percentage.

CSS

A website language that enables website designers to attach style (fonts, spacing and aural cues) to structure that include HTML and XML applications. Can be used in search engine optimization to remove design elements from a page's main file. As a result, the file is smaller, and the content aspect of the file makes up a larger percentage of the whole. Some believe that this will deliver higher rankings, but the evidence of this is suspect at best. Cascading Style Sheets can also be used to create invisible text, although this is likely to result in the Google Death Penalty.

CTR (Click-Through-Rate)

CTR is the acronym for “Click Through Rate” or sometimes “Click Through Ratio”. In both cases it refers to the percentage of times a link is displayed (by the publisher) compared to the amount of times it is clicked (by an end user). For example, if a link or ad is displayed 100 times and 20 users click it, the ad received a 20% CTR.

Cybersquatter

The illegal act of buying up domain names and “sitting” on them with the intent of making a large profit off the sell. Cybersquatters will often buy out large quantities of names, trademarks, or highly marketable names to try to make a buck or prevent others from lawful use of the name.

Cybersquatting

The act of registering several domains related to other trademarks or brands to profit from said particular brand or trademark.

D

Domain Hijacking

Domain hijacking is the illegal practice of gaining control over a domain name from its rightful owner without paying for it. This is often accomplished by deciphering (insecure) passwords, or by gaining illegal use of a registrant’s email service and then accessing the user’s domain account. Whatever method is used to hijack a domain name, it’s a crime.

Data Transfer

Data transfer refers to the amount of data sent across an Internet connection over a given time period.

Databases

A database is a data structure used to store information in an organized fashion and with the ability to retrieve information upon request. Original databases are known as “Flat Databases” with limited functionality, while nowadays, databases are much more complex known as “Relational Databases” which allow users to manage information based on the relationship between databases. Popular examples of databases used on the Internet are MySQL, mSQL, Oracle, Microsoft Access and many others.

Dead Link

A link that points to a page that cannot be found, either because the page no longer exists, the page has moved and a 301 redirect was not put in place, or because the page's web server is down.

Deletion

The process of removing a domain name and its corresponding record from the Domain Name System (DNS) and InterNIC' domain name database.

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Deleted Domain

A previously registered domain name whose registration has been cancelled by the registrar.

Delisting

The removal of a website from a search engine's index, whether due to the behavior of those promoting the website or from a bug within the search engine. Also considered a Ban.

Description Tag

The information contained in a META tag and holds a short description of the web page that it is located on. The information in the tag is usually the sentence that is displayed directly after the main link on search engine results pages.

Developed Domain

An unique or profitable web site attached to the domain can raise the overall perceived and real market value.

DHTML

An acronym for Dynamic Hypertext Markup Language. DHTML is a programing language used to create interactive websites. It combines the properties of several other programing languages including HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Direct Traffic

Direct traffic, also known as “Direct Navigation”, also known as “Type-In Traffic” refers to users who type a web address directly into the browser URL bar bypassing search engines or any other Internet links. If you watch new Internet users (newbies) navigating on the web, it’s interesting to see that some of them type the word for what they want into the browser bar and end it with .com, while others who may actually know a well known website will go to a search engine such as Google and search for the domain name! Hey… we all started out as newbies at one point. Anyway, this common practice contributed heavily to the massive value of strong keyword domain names and the growth of the domain name market.

Directory

A website that links to other website via a system of contextual, and generally hierarchical, pages. Listings in directories may be either free or for a fee, and sometimes require a reciprocal link.

Disk Space

Disk space refers to the amount of storage you are allocated on the web server or mail server to store your website, files, and emails. Disk space is measured in MB (Megabytes) or even TB (Terabytes). For example, Matt’s hosting account gives him 100MB of disk space, while Kevin has a whopping 500MB of disk space… Kevin is 5 times happier than Matt. Joking aside, it’s ironic that however much disk space the hosting providers feature on their service plan, the average web site probably doesn’t use any more than 50MB.

Disk Transfer

Disk transfer is the amount of data transferred back and forth within a specific period of time. Your hosting plan incurs data transfer every time a visitor views your website, every time you upload or download a file to your FTP account, every time someone submits your form, and so on. For example, if a user views a 1 megabyte video on your website five times during a day, then your account has used 5 megabytes of disk transfer. If that same user gets onto your forum and uploads 3 pictures, each 1 megabyte in size, then your account has now used 8 megabytes of disk transfer.

Displayed URL

In paid search advertising on Google, the display URL is the text located under the body field. It is supposed to represent the URL of the advertisement, but can actually be customized as desired.

DMOZ

A nickname for the Open Directory Project. DMOZ is short for Directory Mozilla.

DNS aka Domain Name System

The Domain Name System (DNS) helps users to find their way around the Internet. Every computer on the Internet has a unique address - just like a telephone number - which is a rather complicated string of numbers. It is called its “IP address” (IP stands for “Internet Protocol”). IP Addresses are hard to remember. The DNS makes using the Internet easier by allowing a familiar string of letters (the “domain name”) to be used instead of the arcane IP address. So instead of typing 207.151.159.3, you can type www.internic.net. It is a “mnemonic” device that makes addresses easier to remember.

Domainer

Domainers are individuals, companies or organizations who register or acquire domain names with the intent of selling them later for a profit.

Domaining

The business of buying, selling, and developing domain names. It is also used to describe the practice of monetizing domain name registrations (e.g. through pay per click (PPC) or parking pages).

Domain Age

How old is the domain? Older domains tend to rank better in search engines and have measurable ownership and sales histories. Older domains tend to be worth more money and resell quicker!

Domain Auctions

Domain auctions are the sale of a domain name in an auction style format, with the highest bidder purchasing the domain. Most often, the term domain auctions refers to the high-profile, premium domain auctions that feature generic, high-traffic, high-valued domain names. These auctions are offered on an ongoing basis by some companies, as well as domain meetings and conferences held throughout the year. Domain auctions occur on a smaller level as well though, particularly in the aftermarket, where many domain names are sold in an auction format. Often times, domain names that have been backordered with more than one potential buyer are also sold in an auction format.

Domain Broker

A Domain broker is an individual or company who helps people to either buy or sell a domain name by handling the negotiations on their behalf. Domain brokers charge different amounts for this service, most commonly as a percentage of the final price of the domain. A good domain broker can use their existing contacts to source potential buyers or sellers that you may not have otherwise had access to.

Domain Extension

Domain extension is another name for TLD (Top Level Domain) or the suffix that follows your address. For example, in the domain name iGoldrush.com, the domain extension is .com which is pronounced “dot com”.

Domain Kiting

Domain Kiting refers to the process of registering a domain name, deleting it within the 5-day add grace period (AGP), then immediately registering it again for another 5-day period. This cycle can be repeated over and over, resulting in the registrant owning the domain name without actually paying for it. This act was frowned upon by most and was curbed in 2008 by new policies set by ICANN and several domain name registries.

Domain Monetization

The business of purchasing domains and running advertising on a landing page to earn ad revenue from traffic.

Domain Name

A domain name is a series of characters that resolve (through the DNS) to an IP address. A domain name generally consists of a word, followed by a dot (.), followed by a TLD (like “com”), for example, “iGoldrush.com”. It is interesting to note that regardless of the server on which your domain name or website resides, a domain name is NOT case-sensitive, which means that you can type IGOLDRUSH.COM or igoldrush.com into your browser and always reach the same place. That is because DNS is not case-sensitive, unlike how certain web servers might be. That’s a very simplistic description of a domain name. Now read the 100?s of pages on this website that tells you everything else about domain names and what you can do with them!

Domain Name Affiliate

A Domain name affiliate is an individual or company that displays links on their websites or emails that direct users to a domain name registrar or reseller site. The affiliate collects a commission any time a user takes an action, usually by placing a domain registration, but sometimes if the user simply clicks on the link. Domain affiliates should not be confused with Domain Name registrars, who actually manage the domain names at the registry.

Domain Name Aftermarket

The domain name aftermarket refers to the buying or selling of currently registered domains. Domains sold in the aftermarket are often sold in an auction format, with the highest bidder taking control of the domain. For buyers, the main advantage of the aftermarket is the potential to purchase domain names that are already registered and would otherwise have been unavailable. For sellers, the main advantage of the aftermarket is to profit from the sale of their domain names.

Domain Name Disputes

Disputes that arise over conflicting positions as to who has the right to register a specific domain name.

Domain Name Registrant

The Domain Name Registrant is the individual or organization that has registered a domain name. According to most domain name policies and agreements, regardless of other contacts that may be associated with a domain name, the registrant has the final say with regards to a particular domain.

Domain Name Registrar

A domain name registrar refers to a company that has the right to register and manage domain names on behalf of registrants for any given domain registry. There are many registries around the world, handling the 100?s of different TLDs (domain extensions). Despite common misconceptions, although a company must be accredited with ICANN to become an official registrar for .com, .net, .org and many other TLDs, there are many registries that will allow a company to act as a registrar for that TLD without first becoming ICANN accredited, such as Nominet, who runs the .uk registry.

Domain Name Registration

Domain Name Registration describes the act of reserving the right to use a domain name for a specified amount of time, usually a period of 1, 2, 5 or 10 years. A domain name is registered using a domain name registrar or reseller of a registrar.

Domain Name Registry

A domain name registry is an organization that maintains control over a specific TLD (domain extension). For example, Verisign is the registry that manages the popular .com and .net TLDs, as well as several other domain extensions. deNIC is the registry that manages the country code domain .de used in Germany. Public Interest Registry (PIR) is the registry that manages the .org extension. Some registries provide service direct to their end users (registrants), while many work with registrars to manage the domains and registrants.

Domain Name Reseller

A domain name reseller is a company that manages domain names on behalf of their customers (registrants) through a registrar’s system. The registrar generally provides the reseller with a wholesale rate for domains and other services, as well as a management interface to service their customers. Some registrar’s reseller programs are completely private label, meaning the end user (registrant) is not aware that they are dealing with a reseller, while others simply take the order and the registrant then deals directly with the registrar.

Domain Name Resolvers

Scattered across the Internet are thousands of computers - called “Domain Name Resolvers” or just plain “resolvers” - that routinely cache the information they receive from queries to the root servers. These resolvers are located strategically with Internet Service Providers (ISPs) or institutional networks. They are used to respond to a user’s request to resolve a domain name - that is, to find the corresponding IP address.

Domain Name Space

An Internet addressing scheme that is hierarchical in nature and uses a "tree" structure to organize information that describes networks and computers.

Domain Parking

In general terms, domain parking is the practice of directing a domain name to a single dynamic web page which then delivers targeted content and links related to a specific keyword (usually the domain name itself). When a visitor lands on the parked domain, clicks on any of the links, the domain owner generates revenue. There are many different methods to park a domain name which are explained in more detail on the iGoldrush.com web site, but that’s the most common method.

Domain Parking Companies

Parking Companies are companies that operate web sites where domain owners can “park” their un-used domain names. To park a domain name, you simply point the domain name’s DNS to the parking company’s DNS servers. Parking companies then most commonly deliver a dynamic web page through an automated process that displays advertisements related to the domain name. Domain owners then receive a percentage of the earnings from the ads displayed on their parked domain sites.

Domain Tasting

Domain tasting refers to the practice of purchasing an available domain name and ‘tasting’ or testing the domain during the 5-day add grace period (AGP) in order to determine the domain’s profitability and marketability. If a domain is deemed profitable, it is kept in the registrant’s portfolio. If it is not deemed profitable, the domain owner has the 5-day add grace period to receive a full refund on the registration. Some registrants took this practice a step further and continually used the AGP to release and renew a domain within the 5 day grace period to use a domain name without actually paying for the domain. Both practices are frowned upon by many and were greatly reduced in 2008 by new policies and fees put in place by ICANN and several domain name registries.

Download

Download is the term used to describe the act of retrieving a file from a computer server through a network (i.e. the Internet). For example, you download a file when you request a document or media file from a web site, and you also download a file simply by visiting a web page. In fact, in that case you download several files – the web page itself, the images, sounds, and any other data needed to deliver the web page to your browser.

Drop Catching

Drop catching refers to the practice of instantly registering a domain name after the expired domain has been deleted by the registry and released to the general public. While drop catching can be done manually, there are many companies that offer automated drop catching services, giving you a better chance to register a domain the moment it is released. This process is also known as backordering.

Drop Lists

Drop lists are comprehensive lists of domain names that will soon be deleted by any given domain name registry. These lists are often used by domainers looking to utilize a drop-catching or back-ordering service to instantly register the domain after it has been deleted and released.

Dropped Domain

A dropped domain is a domain name that was not renewed by the prior registrant and has expired and since been released to the available pool. A dropped domain is not to be confused with an expired domain which may still be renewed by the current registrant during the registry grace period. Anyone can register a dropped domain name although there are lots of companies and individuals trying to register the good ones. This is known as drop catching.

Duplicate Content

Pages of content, within the same website or across different domains, that are identical. While search engines do not typically penalize for duplicate content issues, they prefer to offer their users unique content. Therefore, search engines will likely choose one of the pages containing duplicate content and rank only that page; effectively “filtering out” the other pages from the search engine’s index. There are certainly exceptions to this, namely when Press Releases are submitted across different wires. Content translated into different languages is typically viewed as unique content.

Dynamic Content

Dynamic content refers to web site content that changes based on the user or the server or other input to create a more targeted or interactive experience. For example, a web page may deliver content specific to the country or city that you are located, or deliver content based on your past actions on the web site.

Dynamic IP Address

A dynamic IP address refers to an IP address that will change after a session ends, or other specific time-frame. The converse of a dynamic IP address is a static IP address which is also covered in this glossary.

E

Ecommerce

Ecommerce is short for Electronic Commerce and refers to buying and selling of products and services using the Internet.

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F

Forum

A forum, also called a message board or discussion board, is a web site where users participate in online discussions with other users. The majority of forums focus on a niche topic, allowing participants to ask and answer questions or engage in discussions on a particular subject.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol)

FTP is the acronym for File Transfer Protocol and refers to the method in which people commonly use to transfer files between their local computer and the web server. The most common use for FTP is for uploading web page files to and from your hosting provider, but there are also people who use FTP to distribute files within their organization or to and from other organizations.

G

GAC aka Governmental Advisory Committee

The GAC is an advisory committee comprising appointed representatives of national governments, multi-national governmental organizations and treaty organizations, and distinct economies. Its function is to advise the ICANN Board on matters of concern to governments. The GAC will operate as a forum for the discussion of government interests and concerns, including consumer interests. As an advisory committee, the GAC has no legal authority to act for ICANN, but will report its findings and recommendations to the ICANN Board. The Chairman of the GAC is Sharil Tarmizi of Malaysia. The Secretariat of the GAC is based at the European Commission.

Geo-Domain

Refers to domain names that are region or country or locally specific. An example might be Canada.com. Geo-domain specialists are consulted or hired as appraisers on high-value geo-names.

gTLD aka Generic Top Level Domain

Most TLDs with three or more characters are referred to as “generic” TLDs, or “gTLDs”. They can be subdivided into two types, “sponsored” TLDs (sTLDs) and “unsponsored TLDs (uTLDs), as described in more detail below. In the 1980s, seven gTLDs (.com, .edu, .gov, .int, .mil, .net, and .org) were created. Domain names may be registered in three of these (.com, .net, and .org) without restriction; the other four have limited purposes. Over the next twelve years, various discussions occurred concerning additional gTLDs, leading to the selection in November 2000 of seven new TLDs for introduction. These were introduced in 2001 and 2002. Four of the new TLDs (.biz, .info, .name, and .pro) are unsponsored. The other three new TLDs (.aero, .coop, and .museum) are sponsored. Generally speaking, an unsponsored TLD operates under policies established by the global Internet community directly through the ICANN process, while a sponsored TLD is a specialized TLD that has a sponsor representing the narrower community that is most affected by the TLD. The sponsor thus carries out delegated policy-formulation responsibilities over many matters concerning the TLD. A Sponsor is an organization to which is delegated some defined ongoing policy-formulation authority regarding the manner in which a particular sponsored TLD is operated. The sponsored TLD has a Charter, which defines the purpose for which the sponsored TLD has been created and will be operated. The Sponsor is responsible for developing policies on the delegated topics so that the TLD is operated for the benefit of a defined group of stakeholders, known as the Sponsored TLD Community, that are most directly interested in the operation of the TLD. The Sponsor also is responsible for selecting the registry operator and to varying degrees for establishing the roles played by registrars and their relationship with the registry operator. The Sponsor must exercise its delegated authority according to fairness standards and in a manner that is representative of the Sponsored TLD Community.

GNSO aka Generic Names Supporting Organization

The GNSO is the successor to the responsibilities of the Domain Name Supporting Organization (DNSO; see below) that relate to the generic top-level domains. The GNSO is the body of six constituencies, as follows: the Commercial and Business constituency, the gTLD Registry constituency, the ISP constituency, the non-commercial constituency, the registrar’s constituency, and the IP constituency.

HTML5

HTML5 is the latest version of HTML that has been launched (still under the development phase) with an aim of creating an improved version of HTML language in all aspects. HTML5 technology has been introduced in the web arena by one of the biggest players of the IT industry and that is ‘APPLE’ who had basically invented HTML5 in 2004 for its ‘Safari’ browser. As compare to HTML 4.01, it was programmed with the aim of making a cleaner and versatile website with more functionality. It is presumed that HTML5 would help web designers and developers to create such a website which will be absolutely compatible to all browsers. One of the major advantages in creating a website with HTML5 is that, you will not have to build a mobile version of any website; HTML5 is compatible to the mobile web too. Websites created on HTML5 language are good looking as well as proficiently functioning. In this blog, the latest collection of HTML5 website design is being showcased.

HTML Editor

An HTML editor is a software program that is used to create and edit HTML pages. Many HTML editors also provide a graphical interface so that the user can make updates in a visual manner, and the HTML editor creates the required code for them.

HTTP (Hyper-Text Protocol)

HTTP is the acronym for Hyper-Text Protocol and in layman terms refers to the communication between your browser and web server. HTTP was first used to request and display linked text documents which eventually led to the creation of the World Wide Web.

Hyperlinks

A hyperlink, also simply known as a link, is a snippet of code that enables an Internet user to click on an element (such as a word or picture) and for that action to open up a web page or other element.

I

IANA

IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) operating under ICANN, oversees the assignment of IP addresses to Internet Service Providers. In addition, IANA oversees root zone management for DNS and other internet protocol assignments. IANA previously operated under contract of the US Government, but is now operated under ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.

ICANN

ICANN (Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers) is a non-profit organization created to oversee global internet related tasks that were previously managed by IANA, under contract from the US Government. ICANN is primarily responsible for managing the Internet’s top level domains (TLD’s), overseeing the allocation of IP addresses and managing the root server system. Some specific examples of ICANN services include approval of new generic TLDs, approval of registrars to sell domain names, and resolving domain name registration disputes under its Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy.

IDN aka Internationalized Domain Names

IDN is the acronym for Internationalized Domain Names and refers to a domain name that contains one or more non ASCII characters. These domain names have the ability to use characters from non-English languages such as Chinese or Arabic. Because traditional domain names do not allow for use of these characters, the IDN was adopted to provide non English speaking users with the ability to register domain names in their native language.

InterNIC

The name given to a project that originated under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation (NSF).

IETF aka Internet Engineering Task Force

The IETF is a large open international community of network designers, operators, vendors, and researchers concerned with the evolution of the Internet architecture and the smooth operation of the Internet. It is open to any interested individual.

IP aka Internet Protocol

The communications protocol underlying the Internet, IP allows large, geographically diverse networks of computers to communicate with each other quickly and economically over a variety of physical links. An Internet Protocol Address is the numerical address by which a location in the Internet is identified. Computers on the Internet use IP addresses to route traffic and establish connections among themselves; people generally use the human-friendly names made possible by the Domain Name System.

ISOC aka The Internet Society

The Internet Society is the international organization for global cooperation and coordination for the Internet and its internetworking technologies and applications. ISOC membership is open to any interested person.

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