Online Advertising is advertising on the Internet. This particular form of advertising is a source of revenue for an increasing number of websites and companies.

The are two sides to online advertising , a legitimate one and an illegitimate one. The legitimate side of online advertising includes advertising networks and opt-in e-mail advertising. The illegitimate side is dominated by spamming.

=Problems with Ads=

A number of advertising techiques might be considered intrusive or obnoxious. These include advertisements which block or delay viewing of a webpage s content. For example, some websites display a page of ads before they display content. Some ads move across the user s screen, fill up portions of the screen, or alter the contents of the webpage. Other methods are more subtle, such as spreading out the contents of an article across multiple pages or loading new ads while a page is being viewed. There is a class of advertising methods which may be considered unethical and perhaps even illegal. These include external applications which alter system settings (such as a browser s home page), spawn pop-ups, and insert advertisements into non-affiliated webpages. Such applications are usually labeled as Spyware or Adware. They may mask their questionable activities by performing a simple service, such as displaying the weather or providing a search bar. Some programs are effectively Trojan horse (computing)s. These applications are commonly designed so as to be difficult to remove or uninstall. The ever-increasing audience of online users, many of which are not computer-savvy, frequently lack the knowledge and technical ability to protect themselves from these programs.

=New Techniques=

Increasingly, ad revenues are linked to targeted marketing and low-profile ads. Many advertising networks display text-only ads that correspond to the keywords of an Internet search. These ads are believed to have a greater chance of attracting a user, because they tend to share a similar context as the user s search query. For example, a search query for flowers might return an advertisement for a florist s website.

Another popular, low-profile advertising method is embedding keyword hyperlink in a webpage which are redirected through an advertiser. When a user follows the link, they are redirected to a sponsor s website. The user also can preview the ad s contents in a small overlay box by moving their mouse over the link.

Though the range of advertising options has expanded, the use of animations and static images is still extremely popular. With the rise of broadband Internet access, advertisers have found a market for ads with motion video and sound. The ever-increasing audience of online users will likely continue to be a major advertising market.

=See also=