Online Video Glossary
.avi
(Audio Video Interleave)- A multimedia container file format developed by Microsoft to allow synchronous audio-with-video playback.
.flv
Flash video file format; used to deliver video over the Internet.
.mov
A video publishing file format developed by Apple for use with their QuickTime video players.
.wmv
(Windows Media Video)- An audio and video file encoded for use with Windows Media Player.
1080i
Mode of High Definition television consisting of 1080 horizontal lines of non-progressive resolution and a wide-screen aspect ratio of 16:9. 1080i is currently the highest standard resolution for High Definition television available to the consumer market making 1080i the ideal signal for advertising.
720p
Mode of High Definition television consisting of 720 horizontal lines of progressive resolution and an aspect ratio of 16:9. At 60fps, progressive-scan outputs allow images to be displayed at the highest quality while transmitting motion without slowdown or flickering.
Asynchronous Video Delivery
Non-live video transmission. The delivery of a video file that has been previously recorded and stored.
Autoplay
The function of a video player that starts playing a video automatically without the user needing to click any buttons.
Buffering Video
A buffer is a temporary holding pen in a computer’s memory for data for inputs (e.g., to software) or outputs (e.g., to a printer) until the process can deal with it. Video buffering occurs when a streaming video player saves portions of a streaming video file to local storage for playback.
Clickable Video
Online video that is completely interactive. Viewers can move their cursor over the various objects/people/places etc. in the video and click them to obtain more information or interact in some other way such as making purchase transactions straight from the video itself.
Click-through
The action of following a hyperlink within an advertisement or editorial Web site or another page or frame within the Web site content to another
CMS – Content Management Systems
Programs responsible for the creation of a site’s framework including image media, audio files, web content, skins, and many others. CMS is a cost-effective way of managing a site’s content and also functions as a way for businesses to share and archive files as well as other web-based content with minimal effort.
Codec
(COmpressor/ DECompressor) – The technology used to compress an audio and/ or video file for storage or transmission and then decompress for playback.
Compression
Reducing the amount of data used to represent video images. A straightforward combination of image compression and motion compression. Compressed video can effectively reduce the bandwidth required to transmit digital video.
Consumer Video Hosting
Online video hosting and sharing sites that allow their users to upload videos, usually free of charge, for viewing by private and public audiences.
Content Delivery Network
System of computers networked across the internet for the purpose of delivering content to end users. Each individual system is composed of hundreds-to-thousands of end users allowing networking to be done on a massive scale and making CDN’s ideal to market web video content.
Contextual Ads
Existing contextual ad engines deliver text and image ads to non-video content pages. Ads are matched to keywords extracted from content. Advertisers can leverage existing keyword-based paid search campaigns and gain access to a larger audience. 3rd party publishers receive a share of the revenue collected from the advertisers.
Conversion
The operation of changing data from one format to another so the output will be displayed in an appropriate manner for the device. Specifically for video this means the changing a video file, which is present in a special codec, into another video codec (eg Divx to MPEG, MPEG2 to Xvid, etc.).
CPA – (Cost Per Action)
A pricing model that allows marketers to be charged by their publishers only when an agreed upon action is taken by their potential customer such as a sale or registration. This model is also referred to as CPI or Cost Per Interaction.
CPC – (Cost Per Click)
A advertiser’s estimation of how much it costs for each click on a given advertisement. This number is obtained by dividing the cost of an ad or marketing endeavor, by the number of clicks on that ad or endeavor generated.
CPM – (Cost Per Thousand Impressions)
A pricing model for online advertising based on impressions or views where the advertiser pays the publisher a predetermined rate for every thousand impressions.
CRM Centric
CRM helps companies understand, as well as anticipate, the needs of current and potential customers.
Cue Point
User defined points in the playback of a video when an event is designated to occur. In online video you can use cue points to trigger custom, synchronized functionality, such as animations, synchronized ad units, or closed captions.
Decoding
The decompression or ‘un-packaging’ of an encoded file for playback or use.
Delivery
In web based technologies, delivery can be achieved through mobile devices, websites, emails, instant messaging, search engines, and web video marketing.
Direct response
Advertising that requires a consumer to respond immediately either through interaction (clicking a link), telephone, email or other.
DivX
A codec based on MPEG-4 Part 2 developed by DivX, Inc. (not to be confused with DIVX
DRM
(Digital Rights Management) – The technology used to control user access to licensed technology.
Embed
Adding an element from one document to another document; in online video this refers to taking video from a online video provider and transplanting it elsewhere on the web (websites, social networking sites, etc.) through the use of HTML code. Embed is a method which integrates plug-in technology with web pages. Attributes such as palette, type, Plug-in URL, Height/Width, and Vspace must be optimized to allow for the successful embedding of an object.
Encoding
The compression of a file through the use of a codec to make it easier and smaller to store and transmit.
Event trackers
Primarily used for click-through tracking today, but also for companion banner interactions and video session tracking (e.g. 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%)..
File Size
The amount of storage space a file takes up. Measured in bytes, kilobytes (1000 bytes), megabytes (1000 kilobytes), gigabytes (1000 megabytes), terabytes (1000 gigabytes), etc.
Flash
Commonly used to create animation, advertisements, various web page components, to integrate video into web pages, and more recently, to develop rich internet applications including adding video to websites.
Full screen views
Refers to the number of impressions where the video was played in full screen mode (where available)
H.264
Standard of video compression pioneered for the purpose of providing good quality video at half the bit rate allowing a larger market access to high quality video and other advertisements.
HD High-Definition
Increased display and resolution usually in terms of pixels, resolution, and aspect ratio for various broadcast signals and appliances such as televisions and DVD players.
HDV
A relatively inexpensive high-definition video recording format.
Hit
a request for a single file from a web server. Hits are also referred to as a Web Request.
Hot Spot
An ad unit that is sold within the video content experience. Mouse action over the video highlights objects that can be clicked. The click action initiates a Linear video commercial or takes the user to a website.
HTTP Streaming
The default protocol for streaming audio and video over the internet. It involves the simultaneous download and viewing/listening of the file through HTTP. See also Progressive download.
Hyperlinked Video
A video in which specific objects are made selectable by some form of user interface, and the user’s interactions with these objects modify the presentation of the video. See also clickable video.
In-Banner Video Ads
Leverage the banner space to deliver a video experience as opposed to another static or rich media format. The format relies on the existence of display ad inventory on the page for its delivery.
In-line Ads
Ads usually in the form of hyperlinked texts within the literary structure of a website.
In-Page Video Ads
Delivered most often as a standalone video ad and do not generally have other content associated with them. This format is typically home page or channel based and depends on real estate within the page dedicated for the video player.
In-stream
Most online video is now streamed (played directly off of) a server on the internet. You can show advertising before, after or even over the top of streamed video, thus the name in-stream advertising.
In-Stream Video Ads
Played before, during or after the streaming video content that the consumer has requested. These ads cannot typically be stopped from being played (particularly with pre-roll). This format is frequently used to monetize the video content that the publisher is delivering. In-Stream ads can be played inside short or long form video and rely on video content for their delivery. There are four different types of video content where in-stream may play, UGC (User Generated Content/Video), Syndicated, Sourced and Journalistic.
Internet TV
Television distributed through the internet; users can select from a library of shows online and select the show they want.
KeyPhrase
Combination of keywords included in a webpage’s HTML code to aid in the page’s indexing. Essential to effective web video marketing, key phrases are used by search engines to index the webpage housing advertisements.
Keywords
Reference to content or meta element included in a webpage’s HTML code to aid in the page’s indexing. Keywords are used by search engines to link web browsers to a web page by taking the greatest number of keywords associated with a search.
Linear Video Ads
Experienced In-Stream, which is presented before, between, or after the video content is consumed by the user. One of the key characteristics of Linear video ads is the ad takes over the full view of the video.
Long form video
Video clips over 5 minutes in length. When people refer to long form video, they usually refer to full length content like TV programmes or films.
Measurability
Components of a web page, consumer market, trend, or production base that can be quantified statistical data. Measurability is a key factor in web based marketing that allows the advertiser to monitor the success of their product and control the means of production accordingly.
Metadata
Business-critical data such as advertiser name, eCPM goal, format and version information. Digitized data of any type that can be used to improve a web video measurability, and indexing. Most sharing sites allow forms of metadata such as file descriptions consisting of keywords for web videos.
Mobile Video
Media content that can be viewed via a mobile device such as a cell phone, PDA, or game console. Current formats for mobile video are 3GPP, MPEG-4, RTSP, and Flash Lite. Mobile video offers ideal marketing exposure for advertisers.
Monetized Video
Online videos that generate revenue by themselves. This is usually accomplished by advertisements in and around the video content, but can also be accomplished by charging users to watch, download, or subscribe to the videos.
Motion Graphics
Use of video or animation to create the illusion of movement. Often combined with audio for use in multimedia projects and displayed through electronic media technology such as digital video or digital projection. Though slightly more expensive, motion graphics can be far more effective than the Talking Head method of web based advertising.
MPEG-2
An older standard format for digital television signals set by the Moving Pictures Expert Group.
MPEG-4
A more recent standard format than MPEG-2, this format includes most MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 features and also contains support for external digital rights management and interaction.
Overlay ad
A banner ad that appears in the bottom 20% of the video window. Click action initiates a Linear video spot or takes the user to a website. Sold on a CPM and CPC basis. Large advertisements that usually overlay the text of a website. Although they are typically larger than banners, Overlay Ads attract a larger consumer base than Mid-stream Ads.
P2 card
A type of memory card for a video camera.
Pay Per View
Normally seen used by television networks, a system in which viewers purchase the private telecast of the event. Pay Per View events are seen at a scheduled time and bring fantastic revenue to advertisers.
Player Skin
The appearance or look and feel of a multimedia player. Advanced skins may be programmed to increase video player functionality, and may include ads.
Playlist
Online video content can be broken down by content verticals such as news, music, tv shows, movies, sports, UGC, casual games, automotive, travel, business, b to b, careers, communities, technology, education, directories, government, non-profit, family, health, real estate, personals, science, adult and gambling. There are hundreds of sub-content verticals under the aforementioned.
Podcasts
Digital media files distributed over the internet which can be played on portable media devices such as iPods. Through downloading or direct streaming from websites, podcasting can be used to transmit advertisements from the distributor directly into the hands of the consumer.
Pop-up
A web page that displays within a new web browser window. Pop-ups are often used on the internet for advertisements, but they can be used to display any sort of online content such as video.
Post Roll Ads
Air after an online media presentation has ended. A less effective method of web video marketing, post-roll ads are more likely to be ignored or unseen altogether.
Post-Production
General term for all stages of production completed after the recording of a work. Editing, effects, and music are just a few components of post production that make the process essential to producing an attractive market ready ad to the consumer.
PPC – (Pay Per Click)
Online advertising payment model in which payment is based on qualifying click-throughs. The content publishers get paid a set rate for every click on the advertisers material.
Pre/mid/post-roll
Video adverts that are shown before, in the middle or after video content.
Pre-Roll Ads
Similar to television ads, pre-roll ads stream before online media presentations. Attracting a larger consumer interest than post-roll or transitional ads, pre-roll ads are the most widely used form of web video marketing.
Professional Video Hosting
These websites provide online video hosting and sharing for viewing by private and public audiences, similar to consumer video hosting, but at a cost. Accordingly, the video content is of higher quality and the users are given greater control of their videos.
Progressive Download
A technique for downloading Internet video and/or audio clips so that they can be viewed at the same time that they are being transferred to your computer. This provides some of the benefits of streaming media without requiring a special streaming server.
RSS (Real Simple Syndication )
Contains either a summary of content from an associated web site or the full text. RSS makes it possible for people to keep up with their favorite web sites in an automated manner that can be piped into special programs or filtered displays. Can be read using software called an aggregator, more commonly referred to as an RSS reader or feed reader.
Rule of Thirds
This rule involves envisioning a tic-tac-toe board on top of a video shot, so the image is divided into nine squares. The videographer should choose one of the four points of line intersection as a focal point. According to Digital Photography School, “The theory is that if you place points of interest in the intersections or along the lines that your photo becomes more balanced and will enable a viewer of the image to interact with it more naturally.”
Sampling Rate
The sample rate is the number of samples per second used to store a sound; measured in hertz, Hz, or kilohertz, kHz.
Short form video
Video clips of less than 5 minutes in length. However short form video is usually between 30 seconds and 3 minutes in length. Short form video makes up the bulk of video content on the internet today.
Single-title (video) Player
A video player that can only play and display one video.
Skin Ads
Advertisements that appear in a video player skin, i.e. the graphics surrounding where a video plays.
Sourced Video
Content generated by a third party (typically professional) and will denote the source. An example may be a new car review provided by General Motors but hosted on CarTV.com.
Sponsorship Graphics
Components that are displayed as very persistent graphics such as with a player surrounding skin. Sponsorship graphics are generally displayed throughout the entirety of the content play. Sometimes the sponsorship graphic remains interactive and will behave like an invitation unit allowing viewers to explore deeper ad units such as the embedded interactive.
Standard Definition (SD)
For years, this was the common video quality for broadcast television; most television is moving to higher-definition quality video.
Streaming Media/Video
Multimedia that is constantly received by, and normally displayed to, the end-user while it is being delivered by the provider.. Internet video and/or audio clips that can play directly over the Internet, without needing to be downloaded first onto a computer. Used to view and hear broadcasts, and to interactively play and seek in stored clips.
Syndicated Video
Content sourced from a professional third party, examples may include syndicated television shows, news footage from AP or Reuters, etc.
Syndication
A method of increasing traffic to your website by allowing other users to utilize your content.
Tracking
Practice of monitoring web video users in order to collect dimensions of measurability such as the type of content users are viewing, the length of the videos they watch, how long a user watches a video, and how many users a video attracts. An integral part of Web Video Marketing, companies like Google Analytics, TubeMogul, Visible Measures, and Brightcove use embedded media programs such as Adobe FLASH to monitor web video viewer activity.
User Generated Content
Media content submitted by users that may be publicly available to the consumer audience. UGC consists of video, podcasts, and other social media that adds backlinks to sites allowing for social networking and increased traffic.
User-Generated Video (UGV)
Content created by the public at large and directly loaded to a site like YouTube or MySpace
Video API
Video Application Program Interface- An API is an interface for letting a program communicate with another program. For example White and Wong offers a video API that allows businesses to video enable their websites.
Video Appliances
Appliances such as computers, or iPods that allow consumers to receive web video content or vodcasts.
Video Assets
The video content of a company, corporation or individual that can be utilized to create or maintain some sort of financial benefit.
Video Bookmarking Services
These services allow users to manage bookmarks to multiple videos across the internet.
Video Compression
The process through which a video file is reduced in size for storing and streaming on the Web.
Video Ecommerce
Using a video as the means for creating an electronic monetary transaction. This can occur through the use of links in/on the video or the video player that take the user to a transaction website or that start the transaction process directly from the player.
Video Format
The file type of a video. Different video formats are used by different programs and/or operating systems. A few of the most popular formats for digital video are .avi (Microsoft), .mov (Quicktime), .wmv (Windows), and .flv (Flash)
Video Montage
A video created from photos through the use of transitions, and voiceovers. This is similar to a photo slideshow but is different in that a video montage is more sophisticated.
Video on Demand (VOD)
A service that allows people to watch a programme or video clip at any time by streaming it or downloading it. Usually refers to services offered by cable companies through set-top boxes.
Video Publishing and Management Platform
A complex software system used to create, edit, host, play, manage, organize, publish, stream and distribute online video according to consistent rules. Video publishing and management platforms are frequently used for storing, controlling, versioning, publishing and distributing video assets of all types. The digital video content managed may include videos, pictures, ads, metadata and other Web content.
A video publishing and management platform may support the following features:
- identification of all key users and their video management roles;
- the ability to assign roles and responsibilities to different video content categories or types;
- the ability to track, email, embed, edit, resize, stream and distribute multiple videos;
- the ability to publish video content in various formats and video players
- the ability to add advertising overlays, various types of Web content and track statistics of video usage
Video SEO (Video Search Engine Optimization)
The process of maximizing the indexability and ranking of a video within search engines.
Video Sharing Networks
Internet websites such as YouTube and Vimeo that allow web browsers to share web video content with other users. Video sharing networks greatly contribute to the success of viral marketing and web video marketing in general.
Video Takeover
When video content replaces a previous medium for conveying information. For example when a video interview replaces a written interview. This is a rapidly growing trend on the internet.
Virtual Tour
An online tour of a business and its solutions. More successful virtual tours integrate graphics, animation, and spoken word often through the use of Adobe Flash, Java, and other programs. Virtual tours are the main components of Web Video Marketing.
Web Analytics
The use of metadata and other composite information collected from websites to determine the behavior of internet web browsers. Data is often collected through logfile analysis or page tagging and includes traffic reports, email response rates, direct marketing campaigns, and user performance data. All information is collected to provide better business solutions and increase the effectiveness of online marketing.
Web Video Monetization
The process of adapting web video from a non-revenue generating asset into a revenue generating asset which integrates companies such as AOL, Revver, Brightroll, Metacafe, and DivX with a myriad of monetization tactics such as banner advertisements, direct sales of advertisement space, and web video rental or download fees. An essential step to successful web video marketing, businesses that fail to monetize web video often suffer a sharp decrease in ad revenue. Websites that do not generate revenue are often monetized via advertisements or subscriptions.
Widget
A standardized on-screen representation of a control that may be manipulated by the user. Scroll bars, buttons, and text boxes are all examples of widgets.
