Web Advertising

Web advertising, not to mention the Internet itself, finds itself in a stage of relative infancy and therefore provides marketers with novel challenges and situations which need to be dealt with caution . The realm of Web advertising is unchartered terri tory! In terms of South Africa, the country finds itsef somewhat behind technologically. However, this may not prove to be a disadvantage as the uncertain nature of Web advertising may make a policy of 'watching and learning' most viable. What implications will this new technology have for marketing? What is the nature of Web advertising? How can a business use the medium effectively ?
Where is all this going ? These questions appear to be most pertinent in the process of understanding interact ive marketing on the Internet.

The qualified opinion of John Matthee, a Web site designer employed by
Adept Internet (an Internet service provider), was sought in accumulation of a large sum of the following data. This seems appropriate as the novelty of Web advertising at this stage h as led to generral lack of academic data in the practicalities of advertising via this medium.

2) THE INTERNET: AN INTRODUCTION

2.1) Original development of the Internet What was originally created by the US military to provide a secure means of communication in case of nuclear war, which has now become known as the Internet, has metamorphosed into the strategic global communications tool of our era. The end of the cold w ar left this massive installed structure - initially dubbed
ARPANET- without much of a purpose. Soon universities, major corporations and governments began to piggyback on to the global framework, extending its reach and commercialising it. Known as the N et to aficionados, the
Availability of cheap, accessible and easy-to-use Net access points throughout the world has seen the