Internet marketing, aslo called Online Marketing has become a quite distinct activity from 'marketing online'. In an attempt to define the difference:

Internet Marketing is using the Internet as a marketing tool to sell products and services. Most internet marketing is focused on selling digital information products and software.

Marketing Online is more synomous with e-commerce; using the Internet as a marketing channel to sell a range of products and services. In the early years of ecommerce, marketing online was purely another sales channel for an existing bricks and mortar business. Amazon.com was one of the first companies to use the Internet as its only method of retailing.

Online marketing started to level the playing field between small and mega sized businesses. Many however, made the mistake of having insufficent back end product delivery and support systems. Today, drop-ship business help to fulfil this deficency.

Internet [Online[ Marketing

Online Marketing of informational products are largely based on building large potential customer lists and compelling sales letters. These sales letters are commonly termed 'mini sales sites'. Google recently started taking a dim view of such mini sales sites, which has lead to most marketers having four to five links to various support pages to supplement the sales letter, thus avoiding the wrath of Google.

One way in which Google was penalising such mini sales sites was in the cost of pay-per-click advertising campaigns [PPC]

Multiple Channel Internet Marketing

Online Markeing has continued to expand since the mid 1990's into multiple channels of activity. Some internet marketers have made substantial fortunes from this vehicle, whilst millions of others barely make sufficient to buy a coffee a day.

Internet Marketing channels include:

Adsense Sites - information sites designed purely to attract income from Google Advertising network, Adsense. Other advertising publisher programs have since launched, such as Yahoo Publisher.

Many of these sites, commonly known as MFA or Made For Adsense contain little useful content. They are designed and optimized to gain high oganic search result placement, and with little content other than Adsense Ads, the reader is driven to seek more information through clicking on an ad link. The site owner gains revenue for each click.

Quality Information Sites

Better quality sites supplement information with adsense ads in the margins to subsidize quality content production.

Again, Google is stomping down on poor quality Adsense sites, and publishers previously earning five figures a month from these sites are receiving notification from Google that their sites will be removed from the index.

After building up a trusted readership, these sites can then promote affiliate products and start becoming commercially viable. This can take 2-3 years, and takes a lot of work to build a targeted readership through ezines, email campaigns and affiliate product advertising.

These sites morph from Internet Marketing sites to become Marketing Online channels.