Consider traditional advertising. An Internet site can collect much more information. It knows how many people visited a Web page, how long they stayed and how they got there. If they used a search engine, it knows the search words they used. A Web site can interact in ways a traditional advertisement cannot.
Response occurs with a click of a mouse or typing an e-mail address.
Even with all this data, most businesses still use computers as word processors and programmable calculators. Businesses have still not learned to maximize the economic value of data. The client summarily deposits the report with a flourish into the bottom desk drawer on top of last year s report. The client never uses the data. Some CPAs help clients use audit data by creating charts, graphs and management letters with it.