Advertising & the Internet

The Internet has revolutionized the world in many ways, including the method in which companies promote their products. With its low-cost advertising and abundance of e-commerce through the Internet, many companies have benefited with the reduction in their marketing and advertising costs. Although in the U.S. Internet advertising revenues for the first half of 2009 declined by 5.3% from the previous year, interactive marketing is still one of the advertising sectors that have been the least affected by the economic downturn (www.iab.net). There are many different types of advertising including ad insertions, banner ads, Social network advertising, compensation advertising, blogs, cookies, and spam. Display ads, classified ads, and search engine ads are three advertising categories created by the Internet over the past decade. The flexibility and ease of access of the Internet has made it a target for many companies for Internet advertising. There is a greater range in which advertisers can reach their target markets by advertising through the Internet. The Internet spans the globe, which means that targeted markets can be exposed to the advertisements at once, rather than needing to advertise in different newspapers, television stations, and radio stations. Traditional television advertisements require periodic updating while an Internet advertisement may be updated less frequently. The ease of updating or changing an ad also increases the appeal of Internet advertising (Advantages and Disadvantages of Internet Advertising).
Another major benefit of Internet advertising is the lower entry-level fees. Many smaller or start-up companies may not have the finances for traditional advertising, which could easily cost thousands of dollars. However, Internet advertising costs significantly less and a company can choose the method of