iQ Tag Management

Glossary Introduction

This glossary is a collection of terms and their definitions for Tealium iQ (TiQ) and terms related to tag management and related industries.

A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z

- A -

AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML)

AJAX is a group of technologies used to send and retrieve messages from web servers.

Android

Google's mobile operating system.

Array

An array is a collection of values for a variable. For example, an variable called product_ids that is an array can list several product IDs, with each product ID placed in an element of that array.

product_ids=["ProdID001","ProdID002","ProdID003"]

One advantage of using an array is that you can associate the elements of one array with another. For example, if you have two variables that store data as an array, such as product_ids and product_prices, you can associate the elements of each array, so that the first product ID has the first product price associated with it.

product_ids=["ProdID001","ProdID002","ProdID003"] product_prices=["30.99","12.99","10.00"]

So the price of the first product is $30.99, the price of the second is $12.99, and the price of the third is $10.00.

Asynchronous Loading

Asynchronous loading is the loading of a web page's resources and elements in such a way that the slow loading of one does not prevent the loading of another. When a browser parses through a web page's source HTML, it can encounter references to resources which it will immediately request and begin loading. While the resource is retrieved, the browser continues to load the rest of the page. See also: Synchronous Loading.

Attribute

An attribute is a unique characteristic of a visitor or a particular visit to your site that you collect in the AudienceStream platform. Examples of attributes include visit duration, favorite product, active browser, badged visitor, exit URL, date of purchase, etc.

Attribution

The tracking of visitor touch points across multiple websites to determine which campaigns resulted in conversions.

Audience

An audience represents a group of visitors that have the same or similar attributes in the AudienceStream platform. You can group your visitors into different audiences and target them with an email campaign, discount, or some other action.

- B -

Badge (Visitor Attribute)

A badge is a type of visitor attribute that identifies segments of your visitors based on whether they have met or achieved certain goals or criteria you specified.

b Object

The b object is an alias and local instantiation of the utag.data object, such as your data layer.

- C -

CDN (Content Delivery Network)

A content delivery network is a large dispersed network of servers that deliver web page content to visitors with the aim of making the delivery as quickly and efficiently as possible.

CDP (Customer Data Platform)

A marketer-managed system that creates a persistent, unified customer database that is accessible to other marketing systems.

CLI (Command Line Interface)

A tool for operating computer systems with text-based commands instead of windows and buttons. This often allows for more concise or powerful control compared to graphical interfaces, leading to its popularity among engineers and other advanced computer users, and some applications are designed to only be accessed through a CLI.

CMS (Content Management System)

A computer application that supports the creation and modification of digital content, usually in the context of websites. It is often used to support multiple users working in a collaborative environment.

Connector

An integration with a 3rd-party vendor's API that gives you the tools to take action on your audiences. Actions may include retargeting visitors with discount offers, generating leads and contacts, or delivering audience data to APIs.

Conversion

A conversion occurs when a visitor successfully purchases from your site. A visit is "converted" into a sale.

A cookie is a file used by browser to store visitor and session information for a set amount of time.

Cookie Value

A cookie value is a piece of data stored in a cookie.

CPM (Cost per thousand)

A term denoting the price of 1,000 advertisement impressions on a given webpage. Rather than being a direct initialism, the "M" stands for the Roman numeral meaning 1,000.

CRM (Customer Relationship Management)

An approach to managing a company's interaction with current and potential customers that uses data analysis about customers' history with a company to improve their relationship to the business, specifically focusing on customer retention and ultimately driving sales growth.

CSS (Cascading Style Sheet)

CSS is a language for describing the appearance and stylization of a web page, including font sizes and types, colors, and layout.

CSV (Comma-separated Values or Character-separated Values)

A format for presenting data so that a comma or other character delimits, or separates, each piece of data.

CTR (Click-Through Rate)

The number of clicks that your ad receives divided by the number of times your ad is shown: clicks ÷ impressions = CTR. For example, if you had 5 clicks and 1000 impressions, then your CTR would be 0.5%. Each of your ads and keywords have their own CTRs that you can see listed in your account.

- D -

Data Object

A Data Object is a JavaScript variable object that contains a list of name/value pairs that represent the data points you wish to captures on your site. For the specifics of the Tealium data object, see Universal Data Object.

Data Redundancy

The redundancy that we see typically comes in one of two forms:

Redundancy associated with using multiple solutions
Redundancy associated with data already available on the page

Tealium, by default, enables data redundancy if there is more than one tag on a webpage. Think of all the digital marketing tags on your order confirmation page and how each uses a different variable name to set the order ID. If there are 7 tags on a page, there are then 7 different variables referencing the order ID. However, with Tealium, you set the order ID variable once in the utag_data object and Tealium handles passing it to the 7 different vendors. This in turn causes shorter page load times which increased page performance.

Data Source (now called variable)

An entry for a TiQ variable identifies a variable, meta tag, query string parameter, or cookie value that acts as a source of data for Tealium's tag management system to use.

Variable Destination

The tag-specific destination to which a variable's data is sent.

Date (Attribute)

A date attribute stores the date of an event. This could be the date of the first purchase by a visitor, an anniversary, or the date when they last visited your site.

Dev

The Dev publish environment corresponds to your own development environment, so when you publish to Dev in Tealium iQ, that version is pushed out to your development environment.

DOM (Document Object Model)

A convention for identifying and manipulating the elements in an HTML, XML, or XHTML document, such as a web page.

Domain

Domains, or domain names, identify spaces or sites on the internet that exist under an organization's control or authority.

DOM ID

This is a unique identifier value of an element in an HTML document.

DOM Ready

The DOM is considered "Ready" when all of the objects, properties, and methods have been loaded. This may be before the page is actually finished loading. Therefore DOM Ready is a scope option for the JavaScript code extensions that waits for the extensions to execute until the DOM is ready.

DSP (Demand-Side Platform)

A system that allows buyers of digital advertising inventory to manage multiple ad exchange and data exchange accounts through one interface.

- E -

ESP (Email Service Provider)

A company that offers email marketing or bulk email services.

Enriched Data Layer

An enriched data layer is a data layer that has visitor attributes from AudienceStream injected into it. You can use these attributes in tag-level decisions.

Event(s)

Event is an ambiguous term with several meanings, depending on the context and vendor tag.

Adobe Analytics
Events are triggers that help in the collection of data. For example, in case you want to check how many times a certain product has been viewed, you can use an event that is fired each time that product page is viewed.
Google Analytics
Event tracking is a method available in the ga.js tracking code that you can use to record user interactions with website elements, such as a Flash-driven menu system.
Tealium
Tealium handles events with a view method for tracking page views and a link method for tracking link clicks.

Extension

An extension is a tool in TiQ for manipulating data collected from your site before you send it to your vendor tags.

- F -

Flag (Visitor Attribute)

A flag tracks characteristics that can be described in terms of yes or no, such as a Boolean characteristic.

Flicker

Flicker is the occurrence of default content momentarily displaying to the visitor before it is replaced with the content you intended to show the visitor, making it seem to the visitor as if there was a 'flicker' between the two.

Footer Scope

Footer is a deprecated extension scope for the Content Modification extension. To use this scope, you must have the utag.js.footer file reference as the last element before the end of the HTML body tag. This prevents anything from overwriting the content delivered by the Content Modification extension.

Framework

A framework, or more specifically a software framework, is a platform to develop applications, products, and programs. The framework contains code libraries, programs, and tools to develop software.

Funnel (Visitor Attribute)

A funnel is a collection of steps that a visitor takes to reach an end goal on your site, whether it is a conversion, sign-up, or some other action.

- G -

GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)

A regulation by which the European government intends to strengthen and unify data protection for all individuals within the European Union (EU). It also addresses the export of personal data outside the EU.

GET Request

A GET Request is an HTTP method (see HTTP) to fetch data from a server. The request is included in the query string parameter of the URL. A browser, for example, can use the GET Request to retrieve a *.htm file from a server that is hosting a website.

Git

Git is a source code version control system for software development projects.

GitHub

GitHub is a code repository for software development projects using Git.

- H -

HTML (HyperText Markup Language)

HTML is a markup language to organize and display data, especially web pages in web browsers.

HTML Body

The body element contains the viewable content of a web page, such as text, links, images, etc. Non-viewable content, such as some vendor tags, is usually included in the body. It is within the body that you place Tealium's code.

HTML Footer

The footer element, usually located at the bottom of a page, contains additional information about the web page, such as author, copy right information, contact information, etc.

HTML Head

The head element is located at the top of the HTML document and contains page description information, CSS information, and meta tag data.

HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol)

HTTP defines various methods to communicate data between clients and servers over the World Wide Web.

- I -

iframe

An iframe is a web page element that allows you to display another web document within its confines, much like displaying a page within a page. You can use iframe requests instead of pixel requests for pixel tracking.

iOS

Apple's mobile operating system.

IoT (Internet of Things)

The inter-networking of physical devices, vehicles, buildings, and other items embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators, and network connectivity which enable these objects to collect and exchange data, sense and be controlled remotely across existing network infrastructure.

- J -

JavaScript

A scripting language commonly used on the internet.

JSON (JavaScript Object Notation)

An open-standard file format that uses human-readable text to store and transmit data objects consisting primarily of attribute-value pairs. It is a very common data format used widely across the web and especially in modern web applications.

JavaScript Page Variable

This is a variable type to identify variables on your web page that exist outside of the UDO.

jQuery

jQuery is a JavaScript library for client-side HTML scripting.

- K -

KPI (Key Performance Indicator)

A quantifiable measure used to evaluate the success of an organization, an employee, or other defined item in meeting objectives for performance.

- L -

Label

A label is a description assigned to a tag, load rule, or extension in order to more easily organize and differentiate them.

Library

A library is a set of code usable by other programs or processes.

Load Rule

A load rule is a logic statement that determines under what conditions a tag loads.

- M -

Mapping

Mapping is the act of sending the data contained in a variable to a variable destination for a particular tag vendor.

MA (Marketing Automation)

Software platforms and technologies designed for marketing departments and organizations to more effectively market on multiple channels online (such as email, social media, or websites) and automate repetitive tasks. With the help of advanced marketing automation tools, marketers are able to automate marketing processes like campaign management, customer data segregation and integration, which results in improved lead quality and higher sales.

Meta Tag

A meta tag is an HTML element that contains information about a web page, such as a page description and keywords.

mCDN (Multi-CDN)

Tealium's unique mCDN infrastructure consists of three CDNs: Limelight, Edgecast, and Akamai.

Metric (Visitor Attribute)

A metric is a visitor attribute that has a numerical value. This could be a counter to keep track of the number of times something happens, or it could be the result of a mathematical equation, such as the sum of metrics.

Metric Set (Visitor Attribute)

A metric set is a collection of metrics or key-value pairs, where the 'value' is a number.

Mobile App

A mobile app is a software application designed to run on a mobile device.

Mobile Companion

Mobile Companion is the mobile equivalent of Web Companion.

Mobile Site

A mobile site is a web site whose display parameters are optimized for display on a mobile device, such as a phone or tablet.

MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication)

A method of computer access control in which a user is granted access only after successfully presenting several separate pieces of evidence to an authentication mechanism – typically at least two of the following categories:

Knowledge
Something they know, such as a password.
Possession
Something they have, such as a special hardware key fob.
Inherence
Something they are, such as their unique fingerprint identification.

MVT (Multivariate Testing)

In Internet marketing, a process by which more than one component of a website may be tested in a live environment. It can be thought of in simple terms as numerous A/B tests performed on one page at the same time. A/B tests are usually performed to determine the better of two content variations; multivariate testing uses multiple variables to find the ideal combination.

- N -

Native Mobile App

See Mobile App.

Node

When using the Content Modification or Privacy Manager extensions, the term "node" refers to an element on the page in relation to which you wish to place the modified content or privacy widget.

- O -

- P -

Pathname

A pathname is part of the URL for a website, and identifies the locations for resources so the browser can retrieve them. In the example 'www.mydomain.com/path/to/my/resource.html', '/path/to/my/resource.html' is the pathname to retrieve 'resource.html'.

PII (Personally Identifiable Information)

Any data that could potentially identify a specific individual. Any information that can be used to distinguish one person from another and can be used for de-anonymizing anonymous data can be considered PII.

Pixel Request

A pixel request is a request a browser makes to a web server for a 1x1 image pixel. Tracking data is attached to this pixel request so that when the web server receives the pixel request, it also receives the data included with it.

Pixel Tracking

The practice of using 1x1 image pixels to transmit tracking data to web servers.

POST Request

A POST request is an HTTP method (see HTTP) to send data to a server. The data is included in the body of the POST request. This method is ideal for sending sensitive information like user passwords, via HTML forms.

Pre Loader

Pre Loader is an extension scope that runs the extension immediately when the utag.js file loads.

Prod

One of several Publish Environments, Prod correlates to your Production environment.

Profile

A set of variables, tags, extensions, and other configurations used to manage the tags for a web site or set of web sites with similar tagging requirements.

Profile Library

Conceptually similar to a code library, a Profile Library is a set of pre-configured tags, variables, extensions, load rules, users, and publish settings other profiles can use.

Property (Visitor Attribute)

A property is a non-numeric visitor attribute. The values of properties are strings, such as collections or sequences of characters.

Publish Environment/Target

A Publish Environment is a location on the mCDN where your iQ files are stored and accessed by your website. The standard environments are "Dev", "QA", and "Prod". Read more about Saving and Publishing.

Publishing

Publishing is the act of pushing a profile configuration to the Publish environments you specify. The configurations you create in Tealium iQ are generated as JavaScript code in the utag.js files, which are pushed out to the mCDN infrastructure.

- Q -

QA

QA is one of Tealium iQ's publish environments, and is meant to link to your own QA or Staging environments.

Query String

Part of a URL for a webpage, the query string passes information. Anything located after a "?" in the URL is part of the query string.

Query String Parameter

A query string parameter is a name/value pair located within the query string. The parameter name and value are separated by an equals sign "=", while each parameter is separated by an ampersand "&" or semicolon ";".

- R -

Referrer

The referrer is the URL of the page that had the link the visitor clicked on to reach the page the user is on.

Regular Expression (Regex/Regexp)

A sequence of characters used to find or match patterns within strings.

Responsive design

Responsive design is a type of website design that focuses on creating a page that dynamically responds to visitors depending on the device they use to navigate to the website.

- S -

SaaS (Software as a Service)

SaaS, or Software as a Service, is a delivery model in which customers subscribe to the service as access to the software via a web interface rather than installing a local version of the software.

Save

Performing a 'Save' in TiQ overwrites the current version. If you use Save instead of Save As, old configurations of the version are unrecoverable.

Save As

Performing a 'Save As' creates a new version. You can roll back to a previous version's configuration.

Scope

Scope in Tealium refers to an extension's scope, that is when during the loading the utag.js file the extension runs. (Bad sentence, will be re-written)

Pre Loader
See Pre Loader for more information.
DOM Ready
See DOM Ready for more information.
All Tags
The All Tags scope directs the extension to load and execute with All Tags, which is after the DOM Ready signal.
Specific Tag
You can set the extension to load and execute when a certain tag or combination of tags run.
Footer
See Footer for more information.

Script

A script is a computer program designed to automate and execute tasks.

SDK (Software Development Kit)

An SDK is a set of development tools to help develop software for a particular platform.

SEM (Search Engine Marketing)

A form of Internet marketing that involves the promotion of websites by increasing their visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) primarily through paid advertising. SEM may incorporate search engine optimization (SEO), which adjusts or rewrites website content and site architecture to achieve a higher ranking in search engine results pages to enhance pay per click (PPC) listings.

Sequence (Visitor Attribute)

A sequence is an ordered list of events. Unlike a funnel, an end goal is not necessary for a sequence. You could use this type of attribute to track a visitor's journey through your site.

Session

A session, also known as a visit, is the amount of time a visitor spends navigating through your site, beginning with the first page request and ending when the visitor navigates away from your site, or a pre-determined period of time has elapsed. Usually, this period of time is set to 30 minutes.

Site Scan

Site Scan is validation tool that allows you to scan your site for Tealium code and ensure that it has been implemented correctly. For additional information, see Site Scan.

SKU (Stock Keeping Unit)

A distinct type of item for sale, such as a product or service, and all attributes associated with the item type that distinguish it from other item types. For a product, these attributes could include, but are not limited to, manufacturer, description, material, size, color, packaging, and warranty terms. When a business takes an inventory, it counts the quantity it has of each SKU.

SSP (Supply-Side Platform)

A system that allows buyers of digital advertising inventory to manage multiple ad exchange and data exchange accounts. Many of the larger web publishers of the world use a supply-side platform to automate and optimize the selling of their online media space.

String

A string is a sequence of characters or words. variables that only contain one value are often strings.

Subdomain

A subdomain is a domain that exists beneath a larger domain. For example, in community.tealiumiq.com, "community" is a subdomain of tealiumiq.com.

Synchronous Loading

Synchronous loading is the loading of a web page's resources and elements in such a way that the browser waits for the retrieval of one before it proceeds to the next. See also: Asynchronous Loading.

- T -

Tag

A third-party vendor who supplies code to enable you to improve your site's performance or monitor visitor behavior, enabling you to create a better relationship with your visitors.

Tag Companion

See Web Companion.

Tag Template

The Tealium standardized files used as a pre-formatted example on which to base each supported vendor tag. The templates allow you to use mappings to pass non-standard or dynamic data. They allow the use of extensions to change or update data based on your tag requirements. Then they make calls for JavaScript, images, or iframes. If there is an update made to a template, you must delete your existing template in the UI and publish to start using the latest template.

Tealium iQ

Tealium's web-based TMS for managing your tags.

TLC (Tealium Learning Center)

An online community that allows Tealium customers and employees to interact and share solutions and experiences. The learning center includes product guides, developer documentation, forums, education and training, and links to the Support Desk and Production Status pages.

TMU (Tag Management University)

Tag Management University is Tealium's tag management training program.

TMS (Tag Management System)

A SaaS system for managing vendor tags.

Top Level Domain

The highest level of the domain name system. In the domain www.example.com, 'com' is the top level domain.

- U -

UAT (User Acceptance Testing)

A process of verifying that a technology solution works for the user. While system testing ensures that software does not crash and meets documented requirements, UAT ensures that the solution will work for the user and that the user accepts the solution. Software vendors sometimes refer to this as "BETA testing".

UDO (Universal Data Object)

The Universal Data Object, or UDO, is a data object named utag_data that is configured on your site to be a resource for your Tealium implementation. For more information on how to set up your UDO, see the Universal Data Object Guide.

URL (Uniform Resource Locator)

Also known as a web address, a URL is a set of characters that identify a resource, such as web page.

utag.footer.js

The utag.footer.js file is a deprecated variant of the utag.js file for delivering modified content via the Content Modification extension.

utag.js

The utag.js file contains all of the references and configurations necessary to load your Tealium implementation on your site.

utag.sync.js

The utag.sync.js file is a synchronously loaded JavaScript file used in Tealium's flicker-free Adobe Test and Target solution.

UTUI (Universal Tag User Interface)

Rarely used as a reference to Tealium iQ.

- V -

Variable

Variables are data points on your web page. Tealium uses variables as variables; taking the data from those variables and either sending the data to tag-specific variables through mapping, or manipulating the data via extensions.

Versions

Versions are discrete sets of configurations for your Tealium implementation. Performing a Save As creates new versions, while performing a simple save overwrites an existing version.

Visit

See Session.

Visitor Attribute

A visitor attribute is a characteristic of a visitor or their particular visit to your site identified in AudienceStream. Attributes include information that describes that visitor's habits, preferences, actions, etc. Attributes are divided into different types depending on the type of data they identify.

Badge
Date
Flag
Funnel
Metric
Metric Set
Property
Sequence
Visitor ID

Visitor ID (Visitor Attribute)

A visitor attribute that identifies visitors.

VOC (Voice of the Customer)

A term used in business to describe the in-depth process of capturing customers' expectations, preferences and aversions. Specifically, the VOC is a market research technique that produces a detailed set of customer wants and needs, organized into a hierarchical structure, and then prioritized in terms of relative importance and satisfaction with current alternatives.

- W -

Web Companion

A free inspection tool available from TiQ. Web Companion allows you to inspect and validate that tags and extensions are loading on your web pages.

Webhook Connector

The Webhook connector is a service that makes a generic HTTP request – such as a GET, PUT, or POST request – to deliver audience data to a server. Tealium offers two Webhook connectors: Webhook and WebhookJ.

- X -

XML (Extensible Markup Language)

XML is markup language to organize, transport, and store data.

XPath

The XPath is the location pathname of the selected element in relation to the root element or node in the HTML document.