US sales continue to soar

US internet advertising revenues reached nearly $10bn during the first six months of 2007, setting yet another new record.

Statistics from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) point to a 27 per cent increase over the first half of 2006.

Internet advertising revenues in the US totalled nearly $5.1bn for the second quarter of 2007, exceeding the $5bn mark for the first time in a quarter, and representing a 25.4 per cent increase over the same period in 2006.

"The torrid growth of interactive advertising revenue persists and these results, although no surprise, are very welcome," said Randall Rothenberg, president and chief executive of the IAB.

"More and more marketers have embraced the reality that interactive is the fulcrum on which their brand strategies need to be based and we expect robust growth to continue."

David Silverman, a partner in the Entertainment, Media & Communications practice at PwC, added: "The first six months of 2007 has continued the trend over the past several years of strong sequential growth.

"This growth, led by strong increases in the consumer advertising sector, continues to point to the mainstream acceptance of the medium and advertisers' continuing reliance on it."