Backlink A backlink is an incoming link from an external website to specific webpage. For example, if you publish a webpage and 20 other websites link to it, your webpage has 20 backlinks. Links to the page from within your own website are not included in the backlink total. Web developers benefit from backlinks (or …
Banner Ad Whether you like it or not, much of the Web is run by advertising. Just like television or radio, websites can offer free content by generating revenue from advertising. While you may get tired of Web ads from time to time, most people would agree that seeing a few advertisements here and there …
Big Data The phrase “big data” is often used in enterprise settings to describe large amounts of data. It does not refer to a specific amount of data, but rather describes a dataset that cannot be stored or processed using traditional database software. Examples of big data include the Google search index, the database of …
Bing Bing is a search engine developed by Microsoft. It provides a standard web search, as well as specialized searches for images, videos, shopping, news, maps, and other categories. Bing originated from MSN Search, which later became Windows Live Search (or simply “Live Search”). Microsoft renamed the search engine to “Bing” in June of 2009. …
BitTorrent BitTorrent is an open-source peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing protocol. It decentralizes the distribution of files by making each client that downloads a file also act as a server other clients can download from. It even allows the original file host to drop offline without affecting the availability of that file as long as at least …
Blog A blog (short for “web log”) is a type of website that consists of regularly-published posts — articles, journal entries, links to websites and articles, and other types of text-based content. A blog is typically maintained by a single person or a small group of contributors; it may focus on a single subject or …
Bookmark A bookmark is a saved shortcut that directs your browser to a specific webpage. It stores the title, URL, and favicon of the corresponding page. Saving bookmarks allows you to easily access your favorite locations on the Web. All major web browsers allow you to create bookmarks, though each browser provides a slightly different …
Bot A bot (short for “robot”) is an automated program that runs over the Internet. Some bots run automatically, while others only execute commands when they receive specific input. There are many different types of bots, but some common examples include web crawlers, chat room bots, and malicious bots. Web crawlers are used by search …
Botnet A botnet is a group of computers that are controlled from a single source and run related software programs and scripts. While botnets can be used for distributed computing purposes, such as a scientific processing, the term usually refers to multiple computers that have been infected with malicious software. In order to create a …
Bounce The term “bounce” has several different IT related meanings, yet none of them include bouncy balls. The most common definition of bounce used in the computer world refers to e-mail messages. 1. Returning E-mail When you send an e-mail message to another person, the mail server processes the message and delivers it to the …