HTML (HyperText Markup Language)

Hypertext markup language (HTML) is an authoring or presentation language (not a programming language) used for creating pages on the World Wide Web. The language consists of special codes or tags that determine a page's visible appearance when read by a Web browser. In addition to defining the overall structure and layout of a Web page, HTML also is used to denote links to other Web pages, the placement of graphics or pictures on a page and the appearance of text, including bold or italicized type and different fonts.

According to The National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), Tim Berners-Lee invented HTML at CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics in Geneva. Because of Berners-Lee, it became possible for entrepreneurs, small businesses, and large corporations to post information about their products and services onto the Internet in a visual format.

HTML is closely related to another language called Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML). In the early 2000s a subset of SGML known as Extensible Markup Language (XML) led to the development of XHTML, a hybrid language that combines HTML with XML. XHTML has powerful implications for e-commerce because the language's XML component allows users to share information in a universal, standard format without making the kinds of special arrangements required by Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), the protocol in which many large companies exchange electronic data with suppliers and other entities. According to ABA Banking Journal, "XML is a set of simple rules for converting the meaning of a document written in any software into a globally standardized format that any other software can understand." According to the journal, online banking pioneer Wells Fargo was among the very first financial institutions to use XML.

According to American Demographics, in the early 2000s companies like Jive Records, Hewlett-Packard, and Office.com began to use HTML for more than just Web pages. The companies found that by integrating HTML into e-mail, marketing messages could be delivered in a richer, more meaningful way. In this scenario, rather than sending out plain text messages to current or potential customers to promote products, services, or entertainment offerings, companies incorporate streaming-video clips, pictures, and sound directly into e-mail. Although this approach wasn't widely used and some consumers were opposed to receiving large e-mail messages requiring lengthy download times, the overall use of media-rich e-mails was expected to increase as more people connect to the Internet through high-speed connections.