Google is by far the most advanced and comprehensive Internet advertising business even if generally camouflaged as a search engine. The business partnership between search engines and various advertisers brings the possibility to invest all available resources in online advertising without wasting them on other forms of promotion. The traditional advertising model in which exposure to the message was the key concept, got replaced by the new forms of advertising that no longer depend on message, graphics and videos but on links, shared files, print coupons, opt-ins and phone calls. Product promotion has definitely reinvented itself with this new kind of approach.

What is the efficiency rate of an Internet advertising business as compared to a regular real market pattern? Well, if compared with the traditional advertising model, the results definitely impress. With the thirty-seconds spot broadcast on a TV channel, the possibility to convince consumers to buy is a lot lower than on the Internet. Online, the technological progress involves a process that goes the other way round: from the consumer towards the advertiser. The screen, ad, link or banner become relevant only if the web page visitor takes action in that direction by clicking.

To put it in simple words, the fundamentals of an advertising business online depend on the keyword search engine query initiated by an Internet user, who scans through both business ads and search results. This means that the action performed by a consumer is a few dozens times more relevant than his/her exposure to the ad on television. And here we have an explanation of the basic functional principles of pay-per-click advertising programs that earn money exactly from the clicking action performed by the web user. And the financial results are really convincing!

The downsides of an Internet business deserve all the attention too particularly because of the frauds with bogus click generation and other disloyal competition schemes. Although the pay-per-click model remains the most rewarding advertising system chosen by online marketers, newer methods of web protection are required every day in order to prevent or keep under control the various devious practices that aim at illicit gains. There are many companies that strive hard to put an end to this advertising model or at least to offer alternatives that are just as profitable but a lot safer. The question remains open as well as the direction in which the Internet evolves.