You can say in both ways . In Internet Marketing terms it can be called as Return On Investments and when you are in Physical world it can be said as Republic of Ireland Simple
ROI is explained in a simple sentence. It's never as good as it should be, and will never be as good as it could be.
Generally, yes, ROI = Return on Investment. From Wikipedia: In finance, rate of return (ROR) or return on investment (ROI), or sometimes just return, is the ratio of money gained or lost on an investment relative to the amount of money invested. The amount of money gained or lost may be referred to as interest, profit/loss, gain/loss, or net income/loss. The money invested may be referred to as the asset, capital, principal, or the cost basis of the investment. There are other, similar ratios that can also be very helpful in valuing a business, investment or other opportunity. Tons of resources online for them are out there. I've applied some of them (including a discounted cash-flow analysis) to website valuation in a spreadsheet I'm seriously considering "productizing" and making available for sale. I just used it to justify (to my wife) buying my first site last week. If you're interested in seeing a prototype when I have one, PM me. Feedback will be welcome.