Online Ad Sales Rocket Upward

Despite concerns that the mortgage crisis would hurt online advertising sales, the industry is doing better than ever, with second quarter sales up 25% from last year to $5.1 billion, according to a new report. The first quarter saw $4.9 billion, and the $10 billion total for the first half of this year is a 26% increase from 2006, CNET reports.

The report, sponsored by the Internet Advertising Bureau, showed that search ads are the best sellers, followed by banner ads and then classifieds. Consumer-related ads dominate the market, especially retail and automotive. And although online lenders make up a big chunk of the market, financial service ads barely declined from last year, to 15% of the total market. (More advertising stories.)