THE ABC OF ELECTRONIC DISTRIBUTION

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IBE (Internet Booking Engine)

An IBE is an online application which allows to book any kind of travel on the Internet. Rates and allocations are displayed in real time and allow to display an instant confirmation to the customer of the service or product booked. IBEs exist as standalone applications, e.g. to book only hotel rooms on a hoteliers’ website. In this case, the IBE is mostly directly connected to the hotel CRS or PMS (see also CRS and PMS). Other IBEs combine multiple services, e.g. hotels, flights and rental cars and may be integrated from a 3d party vendor into the website.

IDS (Internet Distribution System)

This term is generally used to express the hotel sales via the Internet. It is also known as a synonym for distribution via 3rd party websites and ADS (see also ADS).

Impressions

This term refers to an advertisement's appearance on an accessed web page, e.g. if the page shows three ads, this equals three impressions. Advertisers use impressions to measure the number of views their ads receive, and publishers often sell ad space according to impressions. (It can be tough to know, though, whether an impression really means a visitor saw the ad, since they could be browsing without graphics or might not have scrolled down far enough.) Impressions are tracked in a log maintained by a site server and are often sold on a cost per thousand (CPM) basis. See www.webopedia.com/TERM/I/impression.html to obtain further information.

Interface

The crossing point or technical connection between different IT systems, one function e.g. could be downloading reservations from a hotel's CRS to the PMS via a 1-way interface.

Instant-Messaging

This online communication service enables users to see if friends or acquaintances are also online, e.g. via Yahoo! Instant Messenger. It allows real-time direct communication via text messages.