Mashup

A mashup is generally considred to be a Web site or Web application developed from combinations of content from outside sources. Think of the various ways that Google maps are used by other websites or the different ways the pictures stored on Flickr are used by other sites and you have examples of a mashup (see here for a combination of Yahoo! Maps and Flickr).

Various APIs are used to create mashups. Today these might include Web feeds like RSS or Atom or scripting languages like JavaScript or Ajax. Tomorrow there will likely be others.

One problem with mashups is that the information used is often used without permission and it's quite possible that if asked, permission would not be given for a specific use. This presents ethical problems and even some legal problems as the legal remifications of posting "protected" information on a public website are worked out.

The origin of the term is unclear but probably comes from the music industry where a DJ might take a vocal track from one selection and combine it with another selection's instrument track. The mashing of these two together produces a new composition even though the two pieces are existing compositions.

More Information

• Wikipedia Definition: Mashup