Internet

The internet is the global system of interconnected computer networks — a 'network of networks' — that links billions of devices worldwide and carries digital data and communication between them using standardized protocols (like TCP/IP). It's the underlying global infrastructure that connects computers, servers, and devices across the world, enabling them to communicate and exchange information. The internet is not the same as the web (the World Wide Web is one service running on the internet) — the internet is the broader network infrastructure, on top of which run the web, email, apps, streaming, and countless other services. It's the foundational connectivity layer of the digital world.

The internet matters to marketers as the foundational infrastructure on which all of digital marketing exists — it's so fundamental that it's often taken for granted, but everything digital runs on it. Websites, search, social media, email, online advertising, e-commerce, apps, streaming, and every other digital marketing channel and tool operate over the internet. The internet's global reach, connectivity, and the services built on it created the entire field of digital marketing and reshaped marketing as a whole — enabling instant global communication, vast reach, two-way interaction, data and measurement, and the digital channels that now dominate. Understanding the internet as the foundational network underlying all digital activity contextualizes the whole digital marketing landscape.

It's worth distinguishing the internet from the World Wide Web, which are often conflated. The internet is the global network infrastructure (the connected networks and the protocols that carry data); the web is one service that runs on the internet — the system of interlinked web pages and sites accessed via browsers. Email, apps, streaming, and other services also run on the internet alongside the web. So the internet is the broader foundation, and the web is one (very important) thing built on it. For marketing, both matter — the web is where much digital marketing happens (websites, search, online content), but the internet underlies the web and everything else digital.

The internet's significance for marketing is hard to overstate, because it created and underlies the entire digital transformation of the field. The connectivity, reach, interactivity, data, and global access the internet provides enabled digital channels (search, social, display, video, email), e-commerce, data-driven and measurable marketing, personalization, and direct two-way engagement at scale — fundamentally changing how marketing is done. Every digital marketing development — from search engines to social platforms to programmatic advertising to AI-driven marketing — exists because of and runs on the internet. So the internet isn't just one channel; it's the foundational infrastructure that made digital marketing possible and on which the entire digital marketing ecosystem operates.

Understanding the internet as the foundational infrastructure puts the digital marketing landscape in perspective: all the channels, tools, platforms, and techniques of digital marketing are built on and run over this global network. This foundation continues to evolve — mobile internet, the Internet of Things, faster connectivity, and new services keep expanding what's possible — and marketing evolves with it. Recognizing the internet as the underlying infrastructure helps marketers understand that digital channels and tools are services built on a common foundation, and that the internet's continued evolution (connectivity, devices, services) shapes the future of digital marketing.

For practical purposes, the internet is so foundational that the marketing focus is usually on the services and channels built on it (the web, search, social, email, apps) rather than the infrastructure itself. But understanding the internet as the global network underlying all of it — distinct from the web, enabling all digital channels, and continually evolving — provides essential context. The discipline isn't to manage the internet (it's infrastructure) but to understand digital marketing as built on this foundation, recognizing how the internet's reach, connectivity, and evolution underlie and shape the entire digital marketing field, from its origins to its future.

The internet — the global network of connected networks carrying all digital communication — is the foundational infrastructure, distinct from the web, on which the entire digital marketing ecosystem runs and evolves.

Etymology: source.

Search interest for this term over the last five years:

View interest-over-time on Google Trends →

Areas of marketing where internet is a core concern: