Internet advertising is a way of marketing services or products on the World Wide Web. This can be done through search engine optimization, banner ads, affiliate marketing, email marketing, SEM marketing and Web 2.0 strategies. It is also known as Internet marketing, eMarketing, web marketing and online marketing. Internet advertising allows a product or service to quickly reach a global audience. A major advantage is that Internet advertising is usually far cheaper than advertising through more traditional means such as newspapers, radio or television.
To better answer the question, “What is Internet advertising?”, we need to first look at all the ways which it can take place.
+) Affiliate Marketing - This occurs when one website runs ads for another (usually larger) site. If a visitor to the site clicks on the ad, he’ll be taken to the other site to make a purchase. If a transaction occurs, the site hosting the ad (known as an affiliate) will receive a commission on the sale. This allows smaller sites to make money by associating with larger sites such as Netflix, AllPosters and Amazon.
+) Lead-based Websites - Sales leads are generated from a company’s website. The company then follows up (usually via phone) in order to make a sale.
+) E-commerce - The direct sale of goods to a consumer. Amazon would be an example of an online company that employs the e-commerce method.
+) Publishing - A website sells advertising space, much in the same way that a newspaper or magazine would do so.
Geo Marketing
Internet advertising has advanced so far that online businesses can even designate ads to appear based on the user’s state, city, zip code or IP address. This is known as geo marketing (or geo targeting).
In the distant future, one has to wonder if this form of marketing won’t be tailored specifically to the person logging on to the Internet. In some ways, this is already a reality, as many advertisements are designed to appear based on