• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, April 16, 2013

Search revenue rose 14.5% to $16.9 billion or 46% of 2012 revenue, compared with the previous year, according to the Internet Advertising Bureau. This is reflective of an increase in dependence on technology that requires an increase in speed across the Internet.

We have become so dependent on a variety of technology that on Tuesday a computer glitch grounded all American Airlines flights through 5 p.m. EST. More than 730 AA and affiliate American Eagle flights were cancelled.

When it comes to advertising, the retail industry continues to represent the largest category of Internet ad spending -- accounting for 20% in 2012, followed by financial services at 13% for the year, according to the IAB.

To keep the pace, however, the Internet requires speed to serve up the $2.3 billion in video ads, which the IAB calls a "significant year-over-year increase of 29 percent in 2012, compared to $1.8 billion in 2011."

The more people and devices that connect to the Web, the slower the download and the transfer speeds. To determine whether improvements in technology make the Web faster, Google compared Site Speed data with the data from a study published last year on the speed of Web sites worldwide based on one week of aggregated site speed data from publishers opting in.

Google calls attention to "significant improvements" in the core infrastructure powering the Internet. Web browsers have gotten faster. More LTE/4G deployments making mobile networks faster. Processing power on mobile devices continues to increase.

While page load speed times fell across the board, companies made a significant impact this year on load times for mobile sites -- in fact, about 30% faster, compared to last year. An interactive map shows the aggregate speed improvements for companies in specific countries.