• by P.J. Bednarski  @pjbtweet, January 25, 2016

What the what? It’s what Liz Lemon, the harried showrunner on “30 Rock” played by Tina Fey, said when she didn’t understand what was going on (and to mock network TV's aversion to allowing a stronger term).

It might as well be the official motto for executives and observers of digital video business.

As it’s grown, so has the bewildering jargon.

Today, at the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s Annual Leadership Conference, the IAB’s Digital Video Center of Excellence unveiled the first-ever Digital Video Glossary, the result of contributions by 54 companies in the business, that suggested 200 terms. The process began in September 2015.

The list was whittled down to 40 words or phrases, from "addressability" to "waterfall."  

The glossary tackles “native advertising” and “native video ad”  though, it seems, the general industry definition of it is a moving target that is as vague as, well, native advertising.

On the IAB list it’s defined as: “A form of paid media where the ad experience follows the natural form and function of the user experience in which it is place. These paid ads aspire to be so cohesive with the page content, assimilated into the design, and consistent with the platform behavior that the viewer simply feels they belong.”

The dictionary will continue to grow, the IAB says.  

“The Digital Video Glossary is not a one-time undertaking, but the beginning of an ongoing effort to keep the video industry on the same page with respect to the lexicon of terms used in business and communication,” the IAB’s Ann Bager, senior vice president and general manager of mobile and video, wrote.

 “Some of the included terms will look familiar and well-established while other terms are young and will likely evolve.”