Display ad revenue is expected to rise 14.4 percent this year in the United States, according to TNS Media Intelligence's forecast. This estimate also demonstrates the continued health of online advertising in a softening economy and relatively anemic ad market, paidContent reported.

However, the TNS report also gives some evidence of slowing growth. Overall it is projecting a 4.2 percent ad revenue growth for 2008, as the Olympics and national U.S. political advertising drive spending, which would otherwise dampened by the economic recession.

For the first nine months in 2007, display ads grew 17.2 percent to $8.4 billion. And based on TNS' six-month review, it gained 17.7 percent to $5.52 billion.

Since paid search is not included in its measurements, TNS estimated display's share of all ad spending will expand slightly, accounting for eight percent of both 2007 and 2008 combined, behind newspapers, a 17.2 percent share during that same two-year period. During the first nine months of 2007, display captured 7.7 percent of total ad expenditures, paidContent reported.