Internet Ad Revenue Rises 26%

U.S. Internet advertising revenue grew 26% to $3 billion in the second quarter, driven by paid search listings and more sophisticated video and audio ads known as rich media, according to a study released Monday.

The data provided by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers bolster the view that advertisers are spending more on the Internet as consumers devote more time to the Web and less to other media.

Online ad revenue in the first half of the year also rose 26%, to $5.8 billion, from a year earlier.

“The consistent growth in overall revenues shows marketers may be shifting more of their total advertising budgets to online,” said David Silverman, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Paid search listings, which allow advertisers to pay to display ads next to relevant search terms, remain the bulk of online ads at 40%, buoying results for Internet companies such as Yahoo Inc. and Google Inc.

Regular display ads, such as Web page banners, represent 20% of online advertising, classified ads grew slightly to 18% and rich media constituted 8%.

The ad bureau represents 200 online companies responsible for selling nearly 90% of Internet advertising in the U.S.