The phenomenal growth in commercial ventures and manufacturing units have resulted in large scale demands for marketing and advertising. Globalization has further aggravated the problem, and put in the markets thousands of brands that are competing hard against each other. To maintain and manage the brand image and capture new audiences, brand manufacturers need integrated marketing solutions and alternative promotional channels. Online advertising is one such platform that guarantees to fulfill the mentioned demands. The growth of online advertising agencies can be said to be a consequence of the increased advertising demands and the availability of online medium. Advertising on the web sites and portals is not a new concept. It is being practiced since a long time. But, the way it is done today is very impressive. Online ad agencies are primarily responsible for advertising on the web. These agencies provide different services for those who want to promote their products or services and also to the web site owners. The advertising agency also acts as the medium between advertisers and the publishers. Online ad agencies have a rich client base, including many popular brand owners and manufacturers. They also have sound business relations with publisher networks and owners of popular web sites. These agencies are responsible for creating and developing the advertisements, for buying the web space and placement of the advertisements on the web sites. They may also be engaged in measuring the response on the ads. Online advertising has also given an impetus to interactive advertising. Other than online advertisements, the most viable formats are the video ads. However, the interactive ads that involve the users are considered as the best invented so far. For web we basically have such kinds of advertising formats as banner ads, contextual ads, animated ads, video ads, etc. Online ad agencies have gained popularity in the last couple of years. As more and more people are turning towards web, the marketing and promotion units have to shift to the online mode. This industry is positive about going ahead of popular media in the time to come.

Deepak Kamboj