There are almost as many different types of Internet advertising methods out there today as there are websites. The majority of them are implemented through the owners’ websites, and still some owners prefer to use email to promote their sites. In any case, Internet advertising has come into its own and has been proven to be an effective vehicle for drawing consumer traffic to businesses on a global level.

Contextual Advertising

As an Internet advertising method, contextual advertising will take advantage of the search results by posting ads that are based on popular keywords those users search for. Within the ads themselves are hidden links to sites that carry or manufacture what items they are looking for. While the user is reading the ad, they are gaining information that draws them in, and when they come upon the link, the text is the driving reason for them to click on it to “learn more.”

Affiliate Marketing

This method allows advertisers to develop a personalized ad campaign, and then place the implementation of it into the hands of an affiliate, someone who is willing to link those ads to their own sites, in hopes of earning extra cash by doing so. The published ads are geared towards reaching a niche market, a select group of consumers that can be easily targeted through any medium the ad is posted within.

Amazon.com was one of the first major promoters of this type of marketing, but it has now become one of the driving forces of Internet business. Affiliates are encouraged to place the ads they take on anywhere and everywhere, because they only get paid when somebody clicks on an ad and actually buys its product. No sales, no commission for the affiliate.

Email Advertising

Because of worldwide abuse in the past, the concept of email advertising is often confused with the practice of “spamming,” where annoying and potentially harmful emails were released randomly to inboxes all over the Internet. This version of email advertising contains no hidden viruses, and is  offered only to voluntary subscribers—not innocent users whose addresses were told to the highest bidder. These mailings often take the form of newsletters with niche articles, as well as about their company and products, and sometimes include special offers and planned savings to their loyal customer base.

Behavioral Targeting

This method is the result of tracking patterns of consumer behavior, while feeding them ads geared towards the subject matter of sites they most often visit. By targeting previous interests, the chance that those same customers will purchase such products becomes higher than by just sending them a random advertising notice.