The fourth report from the Internet Advertising Bureau revealed internet advertising revenues in the second quarter totalling $214.4m, up 66% from the previous quarter and 313% from the same period last year. That leap from the previous quarter helped calm fears that growth was slowing, as the rise from Q4 last year to Q1 was only 18%. The report is compiled on behalf of the IAB by Coopers & Lybrand LLP by simply contacting IAB members – of which there are some 225 – as well as other sites in confidence, and asking the sites directly about their ad revenues. IAB reckons the report represents about 90% of all advertising-carrying sites. The breakdown was $53.4m in April, $70.3m in May and $90.7m in June. Of the total, 10 publishers accounted for 69% of the total, up from 63% in the previous quarter. The most popular business model by far is still CPM, which means the cost per thousand people. Some 86% of respondents favored this over just 6% for click-through. In terms of the markets, consumer-related advertising accounted for 30% of the total, with financial services second at 22%. And of those consumer ads, mail order catalogues came out top at 41%, with retail at 28% and cars 12%. The types of ads and sponsorships are becoming more diverse as shown by the fact that banner ads only accounted for 54% of the total.
