 So, unlike staring at numbers flashing on a DOM, time and sales, or footprint chart, the heatmap is incredibly easy to digest and process quickly, especially for traders that are new to order flow. Looking at the current order book alone, you have no idea if an order has been resting at a price for five minutes or five days. The heatmap displays this extra information by adding a time dimension. This also lets you see how the order book has evolved around certain price levels, in terms of adding, pulling or moving liquidity. It makes it easier to spot price absorption, spoofing, book flips and ignition algorithms.