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If you have been studying Pay per Click Advertising with the intention of utilizing it as a marketing strategy, you might find yourself lost in translation with many technical terms you will come across in many articles. Before diving into a pool of technical articles, it is important to be familiar with terminologies in order to fully understand what you may be getting yourself into. This glossary provides the top twenty most commonly used terms when discussing Pay per Click advertising.

1. Auto Bidding - automatically makes your bid 1 cent higher than your opponent’s as long as it is within your set maximum bid
2. Backlinks – links to your website found on other websites
3. CTR – Click-Through Rate or ratio between ad appearance and number of views
4. CPC – Cost Per Click or the price paid each time your ad is clicked
5. Conversion Rate – Ratio between number of clicks and number of purchases
6. CPM – Cost per 1,000 impressions or the price paid for every 1,000 ad views
7. Hits – number of views per webpage
8. Impression – ad views
9. Keywords – words or phrases entered by users in search engine query boxes
10. Keyword Bid – the amount you are willing to pay each time a user views your website through a keyword search
11. Link Building Campaign – linking to similar websites to increase entries in search results
12. Link Farming – link building but using unrelated websites
13. PR – Page Rank or position where your website appears in search engine results
14. Paid Inclusion – advertiser pays specific amount to be included in search results rather than undergo bidding
15. PPC – Pay per Click or the advertising tool wherein advertisers only have to pay publishers each time the advertisement is clicked by an internet users.
16. PPCSE – Pay per Click Search Engine or search engines that offer PPC services
17. Reciprocal Linking – two websites linking to each other for better search results entries
18. ROI – Return on Investment or the profit in percentage form
19. SEO – Search Engine Optimization or building webpage content according to what will make it improve search engine rankings
20. Unique Visitor – number of users who visit a webpage regardless of how many times each user visits

Now that you are more familiar with the lingo, you are ready to learn more about Pay per Click advertising. Remember these terms or use this list as a reference when going through articles. Understanding these terms is the most crucial factor in PPC concepts. Without knowing these terms, you might end up in a losing proposition.

If you are a website owner and are looking for ways to market your website, Pay-Per-Click Advertising is definitely something you should look into. Pay-Per-Click advertising, now commonly known as PPC, is a model developed by search engines. Through this, advertisers need not spend on ineffective advertising. Because they only have to pay when internet users clicks a link to their website, advertisers can be sure that they spend only on the traffic their advertisements generate. This type of advertising model is commonly used by search engines and content network websites.

For search engines, PPC works very simply. Website owners study the content of their web pages and gather keywords their target market would most likely enter in search engine query boxes. For each of these keywords, advertisers have to place a bid price. When an internet user searches for these keywords, the links to the website appear as sponsored links. Depending on the search engine, these sponsored links may either appear in a separate box at the side of the page or at the top of the list with some distinction from the rest of the search results. The higher the bid of the website owner, the higher the link will appear on the list making it more visible to search engine users. Each time internet users click on sponsored links, the advertiser will be charged the bid price.

PPC advertisements are also very effective in content network websites. Here, website owners leave spaces in their websites for advertising and subscribe to ad networks. These ad networks’ role is to provide links to websites whose content are relevant or similar to that of the page where they can be found. The most popular of these ad networks include Google Adsense and Yahoo! Publisher Network. Unlike in search engines, keywords do not have to be searched. They simply appear on the space provided in the website. Visits to these links from the websites wherein they appear are tallied. Upon reaching a predetermined number of visits, the ad network must pay the website owner. This model can also be used by direct advertising. This way, website owners who want to advertise in other web pages may do so using the same model without having to go through ad networks.

Although PPC is known to be a very effective online marketing strategy, they can be very costly. Bids per click can go anywhere from US$0.01 to US$999.99. If you bid the maximum for a keyword or key phrase in order to appear at the top of the search results, each time an internet user visits your website through these sponsored links, you will be charged US$999.99.

For this reason, it is not enough to bid high to appear at the top of the list. You must first determine how much of your budget you can actually spend to become one of these sponsored links in order to still generate income per user’s visit.

Click fraud a type of illegal online activity employed by those engaged in Pay per Click advertising. It is defined by Google as “any method used to artificially and/or maliciously generate clicks or page impressions.” With the emergence of this Pay per Click advertising model, those who engage in it have come up with different means to maximize their profits gain through advertisement links. This malicious act can be done either by employed human beings that serve this function or automated scripts.

Software for this type of illegal activity has even been developed. Whether it is a person, a script, or a program, its purpose is to increase profits by pretending to be a legitimate user. Its primary function is to click links and therefore creates more page impressions which increase the charges to the advertiser. This type of fraud can either come from ad networks or website owners.

Ad networks have much to gain from click fraud. By engaging in this activity, the links of those who use them to advertise will be clicked numerous times unnecessarily. These clicks will be included in monitors that produce the invoice for their clients. Since their clients are charged with the amount of click monitored multiplied by the rate per click, this makes it appear legitimate for them to charge substantial amounts.

On the other side of the token, website owners themselves also engage in this type of activity because of the advantage it brings in terms of profits. Those who include advertisements in their web pages exert extra effort (whether manually or automatically) to increase the clicks to the advertisements they display. Although these advertisements were placed in order to be visible to website users, the owners of these websites carefully manipulate the number of clicks to their favor. Similar to ad networks, this allows them to charge advertisers more and therefore, increase profits.

It is often very difficult to track cases of click fraud. Many anti-click fraud security utilities have been developed. However, these security utilities simply try to trace illegitimate clicks by tracking patterns. Some trace the amount of time spent by the “clicker” on the website whose link they followed. Because of the criteria through which these security utilities are programmed to determine illegitimate clicks, it is now easily hoodwinked.

The people who are employed to do this kind of work have been trained well enough to deceive even the best of anti-click fraud technology. Scripts have been coded to imitate legitimate users very well. Even software has been given provisions for anti-click fraud programs in their development.

The success of your pay per click campaign is highly dependent on the keywords that you choose. Making use of the right keywords will ensure significant increase in traffic. Also, there is a bigger chance that you will be getting ad views from your specific target market and not just random clickers. Without recognizing how important it is to gather the right key words for your website, you may end up in a pay per click disaster with too many clicks to pay for and too little generated profits. It is helpful for website owners to go through serious processes in order to gather a list of optimal keywords. These processes, however, is not at all complicated.

The first thing you should do as a website owner in pursuit of determining the right keywords, is to carefully study the contents of both the website itself and the product or service that you are trying to sell. Many believe that the name of their products or services will be enough for keywords; this is really not the case. The name of what you are offering will be enough to be general keywords from which you will gather more specific ones to perfect your list of keywords. This will not only ensure that you will have less competition for keywords but also the users who search for specific keywords have more potential to be your customer.

Another means to come up with a list of appropriate keywords is to utilize keyword generation services such as that of Google’s Keyword Sandbox. It can consume a lot of time but it is really quite helpful. Try to use two or more and compare results. Keywords that are similar to all results should be used.

Checking your server’s log files will also be useful. When internet users utilize search engines that lead them to your website, the keywords they entered are registered in your log file. Check for the ones that are used more often. The keywords gathered through this should be appropriate because they are indirectly surveyed from your website visitors themselves.

Keyword counter services are also very helpful for this activity. These come as freeware or paid software. They provide analyses between your web page and those of others with similar content. Through this, you can simply wait for a report and use those that come up with higher density percentages.

Lastly, it may be very helpful for you to study the content of other websites similar to yours. Try making use of search engine queries and study those that come out at the top of the list. These are the ones that have been more successful in determining keywords. When sites come out at the top of the lists in most of the search engines, you will know which keywords are most successful in attracting high quality traffic.

With the advent of wireless technology and improving hacking techniques, Wi-Fi eavesdropping is a growing Web Security concern. Now that Wi-Fi Hot Spots are widely scattered with some cities even providing free Hot Spot zones. Breaking into Wi-Fi connected devices has proven to be very easy. May it be your laptop, Cell Phone or PDA, they are all equally vulnerable to hacking via Wi-Fi connectivity.

Wi-Fi, also known as Wireless Fidelity, is a brand of wireless technology that improves the connections between wireless local area networks. This technology enables various devices such as PC games, MP3 Players, cell phone or PDA’s to gain internet connection at a specified distance without the wires. An area that is covered by Wi-Fi Connectivity is called a “Hot Spot.” Hot Spots can cover areas from a single room to as big as a square kilometer.

Like most other technologies Wi-Fi has its’ share of advantages and disadvantages. On a positive note: Wi-Fi decreases the cost of network deployment because it is a wireless technology. Disadvantages to Wi-Fi include: inconsistency of Spectrum assignments, power consumption is high when using Wi-Fi, Wired Equipment Privacy (WEP) are easily broken even when configured properly, and Wi-Fi networks have a limited range.

Criminal Hacking has been a top issue of Web Security for some time. Hackers can gain access to private information and can even effectively bring a system down. Naturally, protection Software has been set up to ward against Criminal Hacking. Protection Software has been tested and proven to work on wired connections, but the wireless connections seems to be much easier to break.

It was only recently in a Black Hat convention that a demonstration was given showing the ease of hacking into a computer with a Wi-Fi connection. It showed the use of a program to identify the cookies being sent to another computer within the same Wi-Fi vicinity. Now that the hacker had the cookie, he was able to get password free access to email accounts of the other computer. The hacker was able to send emails to the Hacked account and it will appear as an email from the original sender. What’s worse is that the hacker can still log on to your computer several days after the initial attack.

Most people take Wi-Fi hacking lightly because it has not yet happened to them. If you are in a Wi-Fi Hot Spot and you are not being hacked,the only reason is that no one is bothering to. What if somebody does take interest? What then? Hackers are now taking notice of the ease of Wi-Fi hacking, there are even Games that simulate hacking into a system using Wi-Fi Connectivity.

Wi-Fi eavesdropping has long been a security issue. Computers are not the only ones at risk. All devices that use Wi-Fi and other wireless connection are vulnerable to this easy hacking. The best way to protect yourself against hackers is to be selective when using Wi-Fi connections in a public place. It is best to deal with highly private information only when you are able to use a more secure connection. GP

A constant in the Web Security arsenal is the Firewall program. As Internet access speed improves, people started to spend more time online. The more time you spend online equals to greater risks of getting hacked, and acquiring a computer Virus and a lot more. Hackers are also getting better as they improve as Security software improves.

Web security is the practice of protecting a system from attacks that have malicious purposes. One important program for web security is the Firewall.

To know how a Firewall program works. It is important to understand how communication is handled on the Internet. Internet communication is achieved with the exchange of data or “packets”. A computer connection is composed of packets that go between the different machines. Packets need to have a specific destination, because data packets are often divided and take different routes to the receiver. IP addresses are used to make sure that a data packet arrives at the right destination.

Firewalls are computer software designed to act as a barrier between a private network and a public one. They work by inspecting the packets that come in to the computer system. A Firewall programs has the power to choose to accept or reject an information packet.

Firewall programs only allow access of data from a source that has been pre-determined as safe. This seems ok, but what if you are expecting a reply from a source that is outside the pre-determined area? This is not a problem for the Firewall, it will be able to determine if the data coming in is initiating a new connection or is responding to one established by the Firewall’s host computer.

If a computer is infected with a Spyware that is programmed to send information to another source without the owner’s knowledge the Firewall can also put a stop to this. It filters the data being sent by checking the application that is sending the data. If the application is suspicious in any way, Firewall will stop it from transmitting outside of the network.

If a Firewall is not properly configured or set up right, it can weaken and may allow unwarranted access. Most Firewall programs are not easy to configure. You have to have knowledge of it before you can get full protection from it. At present companies are trying hard in finding ways to make their Firewall software easy to use.

As a rule: Firewall programs should be used with other Web Security Applications. This way, one program can make up for what the other lacks. Some companies regularly check their Web Security efficiency by letting “Ethical Hackers” have a simulated breach on their system. This way they are able to provide advance protection for possible future strategies that a criminal hacker might figure out. GP

With the explosive progress of the internet and the constant improvement of hacking tools, there has never been more demand for Web Security than now.

Web security is the way of protecting data and programs from external access that is intended to cause harm. The biggest threats to Web Security are Criminal Hackers. These are individuals who use their knowledge of computer programs and the web to get into a system. The damage that hackers can do range from data theft to disrupting the system and causing it to crash. With these consequences in mind, companies have availed of computer programs that will protect against unwarranted access.

Discussed below are a few types of programs that are used to defend systems against Criminal Hackers.

* Firewalls – a software that is programmed to allow, deny and proxy data coming into a private network form a public one. Like its’ namesake, a Firewalls’ function is first, to prevent unwanted programs/software from getting in and second is to prevent the spread of a problem that has occurred in a private network. If not properly configured, a firewall can weaken. Therefore it is recommended that Firewall programs be constantly updated.

* Anti-Spyware Programs – Spyware is software installed into your computer without your knowledge. It gathers and transmits important information to another individual or program. The data stolen can be used in a lot of ways causing a great amount of damage to companies and individuals. Anti-Spyware programs protect against that. It scans your computer for the presence of Spyware and gets rid of the threat. Caution must be exercised when choosing an Ant-Spyware program. There are a lot of Fake Anti-Spyware programs that are Spyware themselves. Weakening your computer further instead of helping.

* Anti-Virus Programs – Though not a Hacking threat. Viruses can effectively weaken a computer system, in turn making it vulnerable to Hacking Attacks. There are many fake Anti-Spyware programs that cause more harm than good. These fake programs exacerbate the damage instead of containing it.

* Routers – These programs are commonly used for internet connectivity. They segregate incoming data and route them to the proper location. However, Routers can be used to deflect incoming information while allowing outbound data to pass; therefore allowing regulation of the files that are shared.

It is advised to use more than one of the mentioned programs. That way, one program can make up for the lack in the other. No matter how many Web Security programs you install, Criminal Hackers just seem to get better. They learn to get past the security software that has been installed. The solution is to “Fight Fire with Fire.” It means that in order to check if the programs are indeed fool proof. Companies make use of the talents of an individual who will act the same way a “Criminal Hacker” would.

They do check for weak points in the Web Security system where it is easy to gain access to. These people are known as “Ethical Hackers” works the same way as a Criminal Hacker would, but they don’t have any intention of causing the harm to the system. Companies that market security software also make use of these “Ethical Hackers” to make sure that their programs are fool proof. GP