Online advertising and marketing through e-mail campaigns are critical, as is managing viral marketing techniques.

With pay-per-click (PPC) advertising advertisers pay only for the number of times a web surfer clicks on their ads. PPC ads are effective because they are associated with key words and are highly relevant to what potential consumers are searching for.

Viral marketing involves using social networks, e-mail, and websites to spread the awareness of a particular brand.

There are three common types of transactions—business to business (B2B), business to consumer (B2C), and consumer to consumer (C2C):

• B2B sites facilitate transactions between businesses through the exchange of information and brokering of services.

• B2C sites refer to e-commerce that takes place directly between businesses and consumers.

• C2C sites facilitate transactions between individual people rather than businesses.

A company’s chief information officer (CIO) is the executive in charge of information processing, including systems design and development and data center operations. He or she is also responsible for the following:

• Determining how systems should be designed and developed and the software programs installed on it

• Deciding whether a firm should update or replace its computer systems and software

• Managing a budget that balances the benefits of technology against the ever-rising costs of having the latest systems

• Setting policy for privacy and security concerns

The IT department consists of a number of professionals responsible for everything from hardware components to software programs to networking strategies. The IT department also has the following tasks:

• Maintaining security both in response to computer virus attacks and emergency recovery from power outages and system failures

• Keeping all of an organization’s computers, printers, scanners, and other equipment operational and current

• Designing networks used within a company and databases where information is stored

• Selecting or creating software programs used by the business and providing software training to employees

• Maintaining and managing the use of mobile computing throughout a company

• Implementing remote access to computing resources, such as employees’ access to work files or e-mail when they are working from home

Information technology (IT) is the design and implementation of computer-based information systems.

Information systems (ISs) focus on applying IT to the solution of business and economic problems. IS professionals bridge the gap between purely technical knowledge and how it will impact business.

Raw data must be organized and arranged into useful information IS professionals and other decision makers can then use this information to determine which IT solutions to implement.

Adware and spyware can cause annoyance for online customers or even contribute to theft of their identity information and credit card data.

Phishing is an illicit means of obtaining secure private information by imitating a communication from a legitimate site.

Businesses of all sizes must protect against data breaches from hackers, which disrupt business operations and can open the door to expensive legal action against the company if customer data are compromised.

Technology can support ethical conduct within the workplace. Many organizations have websites that allow employees and people with complaints or allegations of misconduct to file reports easily and safely, shielding them from possible retaliation.

Businesses need to know what is being said about them in cyberspace, so many use social media monitoring. Software products are available for this purpose, but firms are also hiring social media managers and similar types of employees to help maximize their effectiveness in this sphere.

Crowdsourcing is the process of using the suggestions of customers and people online to help a business make decisions.

Crowdsourced funding is the use of social networks and the Internet to raise money to help start and grow small businesses.

The increase in the number of mobile devices and the advent of cloud computing are supporting a large increase in the growth of mobile technology.