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As Internet marketing has matured, it has driven two trends: a narrower focus on pitching specific consumer groups and a more robust effort to measure the outcomes of marketing campaigns. In the pre-Internet world, advertisers were content to pay for television commercials whose audience was relatively broad and whose effect was not easily quantifiable. While a company might use viewership ratings to get general data about the size and demographics of the audience for its commercials, there was no way to measure the extent to which these commercials translated into actual sales.

In contrast, many companies are now moving their marketing dollars away from traditional advertising outlets towards Internet-based campaigns that can target specific consumer groups and quantify the return on marketing investments. For example, pay-per-click search engines allow companies to pay for small text advertisements that are displayed only when users search for specific words relevant to the products and services sold by that company. A company is charged only when a consumer clicks on the ad and is directed to the company`s website, thereby ensuring that the company`s advertising dollars are spent capturing consumers that demonstrate some interest in its offerings. Further, using sophisticated web-analytic technology, companies can track a consumer`s online behavior and determine the exact amount of any online purchases made.

Though hailed as more cost-effective, Internet advertising has its limits. Proponents of print media argue that newspaper ads more effectively promote brand awareness and thereby provide better value. Further, fraud, intense competition, and the rise of ancillary services-such as firms that companies must hire to navigate complex web-tracking tools-render Internet marketing more costly than some companies realize.