BigDave - 10:04 pm on Jan 5, 2007 (gmt 0)

While "site" and "page" may not have technical definitions as far as search engines are concerned, they are still useful terms. You just have to be able to spot when someone else is using it differently.

Netmeg, I would add "banned" to your list. It is amazing how many people consider themselves "penalized" for not being in the top 10 for their keyword that a million other sites are trying for. Google has penalties, but they are very rare. I always default to "not ranking well" instead of assuming penalty.

As for the "long-tail", that term has been around for a few years, and some of us have been arguing for it even before that term was running around.

"Authority site" is just that, a site that is considered as an authority by the users. An "authority-like score" is the term that google uses. It is best not to confuse that with "trust" which is usually related to TrustRank. You can be a trusted site that is not an authority, and you can be an authority that isn't very trusted.

A "Directory" has a similar problem to "authority", it isn't a ranking term. What Google uses is "hub-like score"