Online ad expenditure in Russia has risen to US$260 million for the first six months of 2008, a 73 percent increase from the same period last year, ePlus reported on Thursday.

The figure is expected to rise to $600 million by the end of this year.

Of the total, 62 percent was spent on contextual ads, while 38 percent was spent on display ads.

The most prominent advertisers are, according to ePlus and BizReport.com:

• Ford Motor Company - US$4.6 million
• Mobile operator MTS - US$2.5 million
• Moile operator Megafon - US$2.3 million
• General Motors - US$2 million
• VimpelCom - US$1.9 million
• Peugeot Citroen - US$1.6 million
• Nissan - US$1.5 million
• Samsung - US$1.3 million
• Honda - US$1.2 million
• Proctor & Gamble - US$1.1 million

In general, online ads are found on the three major Russian portals: Yahoo, Rambler and Google.