Viral
marketing describes any strategy that encourages individuals to pass on a marketing message to others, creating the
potential for exponential growth in the message's exposure and influence. This paper explains how this form of
marketing is used on the internet. It looks at different elements of this marketing strategy that
companies employ, focusing on successful e-commerce industries such as hotmail and Amazon, while the advantages and disadvantages are also explored. The paper concludes that almost all companies on the internet can use viral marketing as an effective business tool.