Text that is typed into a search engine to gain results leading to related content.

Computer programs which will search a dozen search engines simultaneously.

A cgi program which allows a visitor to search for words or phrases in a database of web pages. The creator adds to the database by sending a program called a "spider" to follow links in web pages. A program that searches documents for specified keywords and returns a list of the documents where the keywords were found. Although search engine is really a general class of programs, the term is often used to specifically describe systems like Alta Vista and Excite that enable users to search for documents on the World Wide Web and USENET newsgroups.

The process of purchasing listings so as to appear under predetermined set of search terms. These listings appear in premium placements usually above and to the right of organic listings.

The criteria a search engine uses to determine which web sites match the words or phrases a visitor is searching for.

The act of altering a web site so that it does well in the organic, crawler-based listings of search engines. In the past, has also been used as a term for any type of search engine marketing activity, though now the term search engine marketing itself has taken over for this. Also called SEO.

A series of letters or numbers affixed to an outgoing advertisement or promotion that identifies the list, the offer, the package, and the segment (as well as the media) in which the promotion was made. Essential to testing the success of any direct marketing effort. The source code must appear on the response device (or in the case of telephone orders, must be asked for by the telemarketers).

Any search engine marketing method that a search engine deems to be detrimental to its efforts to deliver relevant, quality search results. Some search engines have written guidelines about what they consider to be spamming, but ultimately any activity a particular search engine deems harmful may be considered spam, whether or not there are published guidelines against it. Example of spam include the creation of nonsensical doorway pages designed to please search engine algorithms rather than human visitors or heavy repetition of search terms on a page (i.e. the search terms are used tens or hundreds or times in a row). These are only two of many examples. Determining what is spam is complicated by the fact that different search engines have different standards. A particular search engine may even have different standards of what's allowed, depending on whether content is gathered through organic methods versus paid inclusion. Also referred to as spamdexing. Source: Webmaster World Forms

A program which follows links through web sites to add or update a database They look at HTML code and add information their search engines will use to determine the page's relevance to keywords and phrases.

The ability of search engines to associate words with prefixes and suffixes to their word stem.

The capacity which a computer has for storing names addresses and other data. Storage is usually on magnetic disks, and is measured in megabytes (for a PC) or gigabytes (for a mainframe).

Refers to content submitted or suggested to a search engine or directory. Several search engines and directories supply forms for users to complete to suggest or pay for content to be included. In most cases the actual submission should be optimised to include relevant keyphrases to increase the chances of being founhd in a search.The act to submitting a URL for inclusion into a search engine's index. Unless done through paid inclusion, submission generally does not guarantee listing. In addition, submission does not help with rank improvement on crawler-based search engines unless search engine optimization efforts have been taken. Submission can be done manually (i.e., you fill out an online form and submit) or automated, where a software program or online service may process the forms behind the scenes.