Internet advertising analysts are upbeat about prospects for 2004, but they're not indulging in the "irrational exuberance" that characterized the dotcom boom.

Display ads, originally known as banners, are the Lazarus of online advertising. They're staging a comeback, just after being given up as dead.

The number of high-speed lines connecting U.S. businesses and homes to the Internet jumped 18 percent to 23.5 million lines during the first half of 2003, according to statistics released on Monday.

With no initial public offerings on the calendar for the rest of the year, talk has turned to 2004 and increasing speculation over an anticipated Google offering.

Internet media company RealNetworks Inc. said it is suing longtime rival Microsoft Corp., accusing the software powerhouse of unfairly promoting its own software for playing audio and video on computers and over the Internet.

Bogus online ads put job seekers at risk.

IPass Inc., a provider of remote connections for corporate customers, on Tuesday said its customers would soon be able to use wireless Internet at thousands of T-Mobile USA locations, such as coffee shops and airports, in a deal aimed at boosting business use of the technology.

As the search giant keeps expanding into new services, it's becoming a rival to just about every other Net company out there.

Americans logged onto the Internet to learn about the capture of Saddam Hussein because the news broke after most of the nation's newspapers had "gone to bed."

Forrester Research, the high-tech consulting firm, estimates online sales during the holiday season will be 42% higher this year compared to last. The spread of broadband and wireless Internet access is making it easier than ever to surf the Web for gifts from the comfort of the office or home. Shopping online is convenient. But it has state and local government officials upset because they're not collecting sales tax on cyber transactions.