Table of content
1. Introduction 1
2. Traditional conditions and issues in business operations and commercial environment 1
2.1 Previous situations of operating business and the relevant environment 1
2.2 Issues generating along with time increased 2
3. The rise of online presence in modern business 2
4. One kind of online presence --- websites 3
4.1 Impacts of websites on business operations 3
4.1.1 Procurements & sales 4
4.1.2 Employment 7
4.1.3 Promotions 9
4.1.4 Security and privacy 11
4.2 Influences of websites on commercial environment 13
4.2.1 Industry environment 13
4.2.2 Social environment 14
5. Advantages and disadvantages of some other online presence 15
5.1 Blogs & microblogs 16
5.2 Search engines 16
5.3 Social networks 17
6. Conclusion 18
7. Bibliography 19

1. Introduction
‘Over time, trade became a more formalized, structured process, evolving from one-to-one transactions into many-to-many exchanges’ (PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP SAP AG, 2001, P1); in addition, modern business is partial to be built electronically on a network in order to be more efficient and convenient. This report will chiefly discuss how the online presence websites impact on the business operations which cover procurements and sales, employment, promotions, and security and privacy; furthermore, introduce the significant changes which are brought by the websites on the commercial environment. Finally, both benefits and limitations of blogging & microblogging, search engine marketing, and online social networking also will be demonstrated.
2. Traditional conditions and issues in business operations and commercial environment
2.1 Previous situations of operating business and the relevant environment
In the old days, traditional business used to create connections with various units in a complicated process. A