Internet

=== World Wide Web ===
{{Main|World Wide Web}}
[[File:First Web Server.jpg|thumb|This [[NeXT Computer]] was used by [[Tim Berners-Lee]] at [[CERN]] and became the world's first [[Web server]].]]

The World Wide Web is a global collection of [[documents]], [[Computer graphics|images]], [[multimedia]], applications, and other resources, logically interrelated by [[hyperlink]]s and referenced with [[Uniform Resource Identifier]]s (URIs), which provide a global system of named references. URIs symbolically identify services, [[web servers]], databases, and the documents and resources that they can provide. [[Hypertext Transfer Protocol]] (HTTP) is the main access protocol of the World Wide Web. [[Web service]]s also use HTTP for communication between software systems for information transfer, sharing and exchanging business data and logistics and is one of many languages or protocols that can be used for communication on the Internet.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Internet/Web_vs_Internet.asp |title=The Difference Between the Internet and the World Wide Web |work=Webopedia |publisher=QuinStreet Inc. |date=24 June 2010 |access-date=1 May 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502001005/http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Internet/Web_vs_Internet.asp |archive-date=2 May 2014 }}</ref>

World Wide Web browser software, such as [[Microsoft]]'s [[Internet Explorer]]/[[Microsoft Edge|Edge]], [[Mozilla Firefox]], [[Opera (web browser)|Opera]], [[Apple Inc.|Apple]]'s [[Safari (web browser)|Safari]], and [[Google Chrome]], enable users to navigate from one web page to another via the hyperlinks embedded in the documents. These documents may also contain any combination of [[computer data]], including graphics, sounds, [[Plain text|text]], [[web video|video]], [[multimedia]] and interactive content that runs while the user is interacting with the page. [[Client-side scripting|Client-side software]] can include animations, [[web game|games]], [[office applications]] and scientific demonstrations. Through [[keyword (Internet search)|keyword]]-driven [[Internet research]] using [[Web search engine|search engines]] like [[Yahoo! Search|Yahoo!]], [[Bing (search engine)|Bing]] and [[Google Search|Google]], users worldwide have easy, instant access to a vast and diverse amount of online information. Compared to printed media, books, encyclopedias and traditional libraries, the World Wide Web has enabled the decentralization of information on a large scale.

The Web has enabled individuals and organizations to [[publish]] ideas and information to a potentially large [[audience]] online at greatly reduced expense and time delay. Publishing a web page, a blog, or building a website involves little initial [[cost]] and many cost-free services are available. However, publishing and maintaining large, professional web sites with attractive, diverse and up-to-date information is still a difficult and expensive proposition. Many individuals and some companies and groups use ''web logs'' or blogs, which are largely used as easily updatable online diaries. Some commercial organizations encourage [[employees|staff]] to communicate advice in their areas of specialization in the hope that visitors will be impressed by the expert knowledge and free information and be attracted to the corporation as a result.

[[Online advertising|Advertising]] on popular web pages can be lucrative, and [[e-commerce]], which is the sale of products and services directly via the Web, continues to grow. Online advertising is a form of [[marketing]] and advertising which uses the Internet to deliver [[promotion (marketing)|promotional]] marketing messages to consumers. It includes email marketing, [[search engine marketing]] (SEM), social media marketing, many types of [[display advertising]] (including [[web banner]] advertising), and [[mobile advertising]]. In 2011, Internet advertising revenues in the United States surpassed those of [[cable television]] and nearly exceeded those of [[broadcast television]].<ref name="IAB2012">{{cite web |url = http://www.iab.net/media/file/IAB_Internet_Advertising_Revenue_Report_FY_2012_rev.pdf |title = IAB Internet advertising revenue report: 2012 full year results |date = April 2013 |publisher = PricewaterhouseCoopers, Internet Advertising Bureau |access-date = 12 June 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141004001439/http://www.iab.net/media/file/IAB_Internet_Advertising_Revenue_Report_FY_2012_rev.pdf |archive-date = 4 October 2014 }}</ref>{{rp|19}} Many common online advertising practices are controversial and increasingly subject to regulation.

When the Web developed in the 1990s, a typical web page was stored in completed form on a web server, formatted in [[HTML]], ready for transmission to a web browser in response to a request. Over time, the process of creating and serving web pages has become dynamic, creating a flexible design, layout, and content. Websites are often created using [[content management]] software with, initially, very little content. Contributors to these systems, who may be paid staff, members of an organization or the public, fill underlying databases with content using editing pages designed for that purpose while casual visitors view and read this content in HTML form. There may or may not be editorial, approval and security systems built into the process of taking newly entered content and making it available to the target visitors.