Ad Revenues Surge To $3.1 Billion

Online ad revenues for the third quarter climbed to a record-setting $3.1 billion--marking a 33.9 percent increase over last year's $2.3 billion, according to a report released Monday by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Ad revenues also were up by 4.7 percent from the second quarter's $2.9 billion. The IAB is projecting that revenues will surpass $12 billion for the year--a jump of more than 25 percent from 2004's $9.6 billion.

The IAB's estimates appear to be consistent with other reports showing continued strength in online advertising. At Yahoo!, for instance, third-quarter marketing services revenue grew 46 percent to $1.16 billion, from $797 million in third-quarter 2004. Ad revenues at America Online increased to about $324 million in the third quarter, marking a 28 percent leap from last year. And Google saw third-quarter revenues surge to $1.578 billion--a 96 percent leap from the third quarter of 2004.

The price of display ads at premium sites also has risen. MSN recently told The Wall Street Journal that premium 24-hour ad spots on the home page now command as much as $1 million.

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