It is said that advertisingis the heart of trade. These particular forms of communication are diffused (usually through the mass media) with the aim of promoting a given good or service. Making the consumer aware of the existence of a product is the first step to concluding a sale. Although often considered tiresome and invasive, advertising is essential for any business that wants to maintain or consolidate its market position. More generally, a structured marketing campaign can prove useful for both sales and brand consolidation.

Advertising investors now find in the Internet a promotional channel of considerable efficacy, since the web offers a great many opportunities as on the one hand it interests an immense (and ever-growing) user basin and on the other it provides increasingly versatile and innovative tools for reaching and involving the consumer.