This book examines new forms of communication that have emerged through the interactive capabilities of the Internet, in particular online advertising and web advertisements. It develops a new model of online communication, incorporating mass communication and interpersonal communication. Interactive mass communication redefines the roles of online communication partners who are confronted with a higher degree of complexity in terms of hypertextual information units. In web advertising, this new aspect of interactivity is linguistically reflected in different types of personal address forms, directives, and "trigger words". This study also analyzes the different strategies of persuasion with which web ads try to initiate their activation.

Web Advertising provides essential information on the language of web advertisements for academics, researchers and students in the fields of hypertext-linguistics, advertising, communication and media studies.

Table of contents

Acknowledgments Table of figures 1. Introduction 1–8 2. Traditional Advertising 9–41 3. Online Advertising 43–81 4. Communication 83–120 5. The language of web ads 121–158 6. Hyperadvertising 159–190 7. Summary and Conclusion 191–199 Notes 201–209 References 211–221 Index 223–227