According to the latest figures from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), US online advertising revenues for the first six months of 2006 were approximately $7.9 billion, a 37% increase over the first half of 2005.
In addition, Internet advertising revenues totaled nearly $4.1 billion for the second quarter of 2006, representing a 36% increase over the same period in 2005 and a 5.5% increase over the first quarter of 2006.
"Internet advertising continues to reach new milestones, exceeding $4 billion in quarterly revenues for the first time, and on pace for another record year of revenues," said Pete Petrusky of PwC. "With the seventh consecutive quarter of growth behind us we are confident that the Internet will continue to reconcile the imbalances between its share of media consumption versus its relative share of total advertising spend."
Paid search advertising, accounting for 40% of online ad revenues, continued to be the most popular online ad format, followed by display and classified advertising.
"Interactive delivers an arsenal of options for advertisers no matter their marketing and business objectives," said Greg Stuart, CEO of the IAB. "From search, broadband, lead generation, behavioral targeting, consumer generated content and new emerging platforms like mobile and iPTV, Interactive continues to solidify its position as a mainstream medium."
CPM was the favorite pricing method.
eMarketer's US Online Ad Spending report will be published later this week. It will contain eMarketer's online ad spending projections for 2006 to 2010. Click here to be notified when it is released.