Definition
XML stands for “eXtensible markup language,” a data delivery language. [1]
XML is a software- and hardware-independent tool for storing and transporting data. Like HTML, XML is a markup language and uses tags to describe content. [2]
An XML feed is a form of paid inclusion in which a search engine is fed information about an advertiser’s web pages via XML, rather than requiring that the engine gather that information through crawling actual pages.
Marketers pay to have their pages included in a spider-based search index based on an XML format document that represents each page on the advertiser site. Advertisers pay either annually per URL or on a CPC basis and are assured of frequent crawl cycles.
New media types are being introduced into paid inclusion, including graphics, video, audio, and rich media. [1]
An XML sitemap is a structured (i.e., XML-encoded) listing that informs search engines about a website’s pages, their relative importance to each other, and when they are updated.
References
- American Marketing Association, AMA Dictionary.
- w3schools.com, Introduction to XML.