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This dossier is a snapshot of interactive advertising on the Internet today that will help us to better understand its reality and prepare us to comprehend, work and live with the changes that are drawing near. It is likely, therefore, that the dossier presented here will very soon be overtaken by new events.
By way of an introduction, we should remember three important changes that are affecting advertising. First of all, modern advertising was born in the mid-19th century at the time of the first industrial revolution. Today we are living through a new revolution, that of digital technology, of information and knowledge, and of the Internet, which will inevitably leave its mark on the economy, the corporate world and advertising. Secondly, we are going through a crisis that began in the world of finance but immediately showed its true economic scope and revealed many other problems. This crisis is also obviously affecting advertising. Finally, the growth of the Internet is not stopping; indeed it is accelerating. It is reaching more people, storing more information, developing more and better tools for analysing data, making access easy from anywhere and any type of terminal, and it is becoming indispensable for more activities, and attracting a great deal of talent. The Internet will open up unexpected opportunities in every field—including advertising.