The Evolution of Social Media - Part |V

How Companies Monetized the Internet and Social Media

In this technical report, we examine the trajectory of how businesses leveraged social media for earnings. This essentially coincides with the development of online advertising since 1994. While the monetization of the internet still centers around online advertising, the ways businesses advertise online has undergone two major evolutions, and is now at the genesis of a third new phase. We begin this study with the first online advertisement in 1994, and proceed through online advertising strategies utilized in 2022.

These three phases fall under three categories:

• brand-initiated advertising content
• user-influenced advertising content
• influencer-marketing strategies

About this series:

Since its inception in 1997, social media has evolved in leaps and bounds. This four-part technical report series examines the technological, financial and cultural factors associated with this evolution to forecast future chapters in the ongoing journey of social media.