I am starting a media buying course and i have no idea how internet advertising works. What kinds of questions does a website ask when selling ad space to a business? How do websites decide what to charge? Does the size of the ad matter? Information of any kind is welcome.....

So will your course be similar to the Media Buying Academy?

Every one of the questions you asked are what I ask if I'm buying ad space whether online or offline. It's the same principal.

How much exposure will I get?
What's the target audience?
Where in the book/page will the ad be posted?
How much similar competition will there be?

All of these are determining factors for how much to pay.
For me, I'd rather pay $40 for exposure to 10,000 webmasters than spend $10 for exposure to 100,000 people. My target audience is webmasters, so it's worth the extra money for the lower traffic exposure.

But online marketing is just like offline when it comes to the buyer. The very same questions would be asked.

The best type of traffic is going to be the targeted one, generated and distributed from some portals which are getting visited by the folks who are also interested in the ranges of products you are currently providing over the net. A lot of quality and commercial packages could be found online.

And it's also a matter of overall advertising strategy. I might place an ad somewhere with less traffic if I feel the traffic they do have is highly targeted to my product. I also consider brand recognition when placing ads. For example, ads on the radio show very little direct ROI but they dramatically improve the perception of the company. The same principles apply to online ads.

Hello guys!

When you spend as much time as I do examining the workings of the online ad industry, it's easy to forget that, to many people, it really is pretty opaque. Not only is it characterized by some of the most complex and scalable technology in the world, but it also has its own, pretty unique, economic model to boot.