web bug

plural web bugs

1. InternetbusinessA small, usually transparent image added by an advertiser to a webpage (to track its popularity) or email message (to track when it is read).

   When a Web bug is programmed into a Web page, its code looks similar to the code for just about any graphic image appearing on that page.

   2002, John R. Levine, Ray Everett-Church, Greg Stebben, Internet Privacy For Dummies, Wiley, →ISBN

   1 more example

   Google had a web bug on 92 of the top 100 sites, and on 88 per cent of the total domains reported in the data set of almost 400,000 unique domains.

   2011, Andrew McStay, The Mood of Information: A Critique of Online Behavioural Advertising, Bloomsbury, →ISBN

   Synonyms: tag, tracking bug, tracking pixel, page tag, pixel tag, web beacon, web tag