• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, August 16, 2006

Greg Stuart said Tuesday that he will step down from the Interactive Advertising Bureau by the end of the year.

Stuart, who has led the IAB since November 2001, said he intended to re-enter the for-profit field. "It's been five years," said Stuart, president and CEO of the organization. "It's really, simply time for me to return to the private sector."

Stuart added that he has been asked to sit on the boards of several Internet companies, and will probably accept. He also intends to seek an executive position with a company. "I would love to run another business, if that was made available to me," he said.

While at the IAB, Stuart shepherded the organization through a turbulent era. When he arrived, online ad revenues had plummeted from the initial dot-com boom, and the group was nearly defunct, with just 35 companies as members. Online ad revenue fell to $6 billion in 2002--down from $8.1 billion in 2000--before the market began to recover.

By last year, however, revenues climbed to $12.5 billion, according to the IAB and PricewaterhouseCoopers. And as the industry picked up, the IAB replenished its ranks. Currently, the organization numbers about 250 member companies.

Before coming to the IAB, Stuart served as CEO and president of ad technology company DeltaClick, Inc. He also held executive positions at companies including Flycast Communications and Cars.com, and worked at Wunderman in New York, where he held the position of senior vice president, general manager of the interactive marketing division.

He recently co-authored a book, "What Sticks," with Rex Briggs, founder of marketing research consulting firm Marketing Evolution. "What Sticks" is slated to hit the shelves Sept. 1.

The IAB has tapped executive search firm Spencer Stuart to help recruit a new CEO.