Online advertising

Online advertising, also known as online marketing, Internet advertising, digital advertising, or web advertising, is a kind of marketing and advertising that promotes goods and services to audiences and platform users via the use of the Internet. Email marketing, search engine marketing (SEM), social media marketing, many other forms of display advertising (including web banner advertising), and mobile advertising are all examples of online advertising strategies. The delivery of advertisements using automated software systems that operate across various websites, media services, and platforms is becoming more common. This is known as programmatic advertising.

A publisher that integrates adverts into its online content, and an advertiser who offers the advertisements that will be shown on the publisher's content, are common participants in online advertising, as is the case with other forms of advertising media. Other possible partners include advertising agencies that assist in the creation and placement of ad content, an ad server that distributes the ad electronically and records data, and advertising affiliates that do independent promotional activity for the advertiser on a commission basis.

It was reported that in 2016, Internet advertising earnings in the United States topped those of cable and broadcast television combined. For the year 2017, overall Internet advertising sales in the United States totalled $83.0 billion, representing a 14 percent growth over the revenues of $72.50 billion in 2016. And according to study projections based on 2019 internet advertising spend in the United States, the whole amount spent is $125.2 billion, which is $54.8 billion more than the total amount spent on television (70.4 billion).

Many prevalent internet advertising methods are contentious, and as a consequence, they are increasingly being subjected to government oversight and regulation. Many internet users also find online advertising to be bothersome, and for a number of reasons, they have become more reliant on ad blocking software. It is also possible that online advertising earnings will not be sufficient to replace other publications' income sources. Because of dwindling ad income, several publishers have decided to put their material behind paywalls.