The Internet market continued to experience unparalleled expansion in 1999. It was a year in which large numbers of households accessed the Web, driving online retail sales to new heights and facilitating a substantial increase in advertising expenditures. Growing numbers of businesses also continued their migration to the Internet, driving business-to-business e-commerce spending even higher than that of the consumer side of the market.

The advertising segment, despite making impressive gains, continued to seek agreement on measurement standards and delivery methods. Advertisers, though still using banners, began moving increasingly toward permission-based e-mail and other delivery mechanisms in order to better measure effectiveness. E-mail also began gaining popularity as an effective marketing medium, particularly among specialty media.