Not a day goes by when I don't see complex technical terms thrown around in the media or on blogs. I often wonder whether the average marketer knows what half of these terms mean. This series is aimed at illustrating (this is where the whiteboard comes into play) complex terms in ways that normal, non-geeks can understand.
In this installment, I take a look at AJAX. This is a huge Web2.0 buzzword that you hear all the time, but do you really know what it means? It's actually quite straightforward, from a marketing point of view.
AJAX Stands for Asynchronous JAvasript and XML. As a marketer, you don't need to know about Javascript, which is a programming language; nor do you really need to know about XML, which is a data storage standard.
But the asynchronous part is what is interesting. It allows Web pages to behave in a more dynamic, application-like manner.
For example, Google's Reader, Mail and Documents all work with AJAX to make them work more fluidly for the end user. Data is transmitted and stored via XML behind the scenes to enable this process to happen.
AJAX is, as a result, also partly responsible for the so-called "death of the pageview." Pages don't need to reload to get new content, thereby eliminating pageviews.
Check out the video for a tutorial on what AJAX is from a 30,000-foot, marketing-centric view:
Key takeaways:
- AJAX allows technology to get out of the way of the end user.
- User experience is improved through more dynamic, application-like interfaces.
- This idea is a driver behind Web 2.0, but it has been around for a while.
- Microsoft has its own version of AJAX, called Atlas (same principles).
- AJAX bridges the design/UI field and the technical/integration field to make users happier.
- Fewer pages to load means fewer impressions—hence the death of the pageview.
- Major companies are using AJAX to design more responsive, rich interfaces than is possible in Flash.
Is there another term that's confusing you? Do your tech guys like to show you up and you want a little revenge? Email me with the terms/ideas/buzzwords that you would like to see explained in a future post.
