How Web Advertising Works

This was a question in my e-mail this morning:

How much should I charge for an advertisement placed on my website, if requested? I know it’s a vague question but are there guidelines? If someone wanted me to advertise their store – maybe say, a logo. How much should I charge? Or say an ad with only words? Would it be comparable to an ad placed in a newspaper or magazine?

That’s a question that resonates. Last week I was in a discussion with students who were asking pretty much the same thing. Looking from the outside in, how does web advertising work?

I started to write an answer and then stopped. Wait a minute. That’s got to be already there, on the web. So I did a quick search and came up with “How Web Advertising Works” on Howstuffworks.com. It’s a great resource; like so many others, I’m aware of it, but I don’t use it enough.