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Guide to E-Commerce Technology

Internet companies may have found a new channel to get their advertising messages out into cyberspace thanks to Epidemic Marketing, a new distribution channel that pays consumers to deliver advertising messages through their everyday e-mail messages. According to the Denver-based company, consumers earn commissions for carrying graphic advertisements in their personal e-mail messages, which in turn allows advertisers to deliver global, targeted marketing messages and help build their brands.

Epidemic Marketing says the system is designed to compliment advertisers' current e-mail messages and requires no technical knowledge to install. Messages are sent in their usual format but are accompanied by a sidebar of graphic advertisements. Consumers are paid a commission based on purchases generated from the ads and have the option of receiving cash or a Web certificate for online spending as compensation.

Currently, industry research shows that 94% of online consumers use e-mail as their Internet activity, with an estimated 8.5 billion e-mails being sent daily in the U.S. alone.