Paid, Owned and Earned Media.

The classification was popularised around 2009, above all by the research firm Forrester. Paid media covers everything paid for per impression or click: Google Ads, social ads, posters, print ads, sponsorship. Owned media are channels the company controls itself: website, blog, newsletter list, app, customer magazine. Earned media arises when others talk about the company: press coverage, reviews, recommendations, links, brand mentions and being named in the answers of AI assistants.

The three differ in control and credibility. Paid media is fully controllable but gone the moment the budget ends. Owned media is lasting and controllable but needs time to build reach. Earned media is the most credible, but it cannot be bought, only earned — through good work, useful content and digital PR.

An example of how they interact: a bakery publishes a page listing all its gluten-free products on its website (owned). A small ad (paid) promotes the page in the region. A local newspaper reports on it and customers write reviews on Google (earned). Those reviews and the article in turn strengthen the visibility of the bakery's own page in search and AI answers.

For SMEs the weighting is decisive: owned media is the foundation, because all other channels lead there. Paid media accelerates, earned media amplifies. Invest only in paid and you are renting visibility; neglect owned and earned and you pay for every visit indefinitely. Some models add a fourth category, shared media, for content on social networks. The most important owned channel is your own website; for it to be found, it needs ongoing care, as in ongoing SEO.