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Online ad sales rise 26 percent in 2007

IAB/PricewaterhouseCoopers study shows online advertising unhindered by slowing economy, with sales for 2007 up 26 percent to a record $21.2 billion.

Elinor Mills Former Staff Writer
Elinor Mills covers Internet security and privacy. She joined CNET News in 2005 after working as a foreign correspondent for Reuters in Portugal and writing for The Industry Standard, the IDG News Service and the Associated Press.
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Elinor Mills

Despite the slowing economy, marketers continued spending on Internet advertising last year to the tune of $21.2 billion, up 26 percent from the previous year, according to a report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau released on Thursday.

Keyword search, Google's cash cow, garnered the most revenue and had the greatest market share, 41 percent, followed by display advertising at 34 percent and classifieds at 16 percent.

For the fourth quarter, online ad revenue reached $5.9 billion, a 24 percent increase from the same period a year earlier.

The figures represent the fourth consecutive year and 13th consecutive quarter of record sales, the IAB said. The results met expectations IAB gave in February.

The quarterly report was conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers and sponsored by the IAB.

Fourth-quarter revenue has increased significantly on a year-over-year percentage and dollar basis for the fifth consecutive year, after declining in 2001 and 2002. IAB/PricewaterhouseCoopers
2007 fourth-quarter revenue was the highest quarterly revenue total recorded since reporting began in 1996. IAB/PricewaterhouseCoopers