Despite the economic downturn and numerous job losses across media sectors, Internet advertising revenue in the United States reached an all time high at US$23.4 billion dollars, according to the 2008 Internet Advertising Report released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau. Online is now the third-largest ad-supported medium, according to the report.

The report, conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, revealed full year online revenue up 10.6 percent from 2007's $21.2 billion. In the fourth quarter, revenues hit $6.1 billion, up 2.6 percent from the fourth quarter of 2007, when revenues were at $5.9 billion, the report states.
"We are seeing an ongoing secular shift from traditional to online media as marketers recognize that ad dollars invested in interactive media are effective at influencing consumers and delivering measurable results," said Randall Rothenberg, president and CEO of the IAB. "In this uncertain economy, where marketers know they need to do more with less, interactive advertising provides the tools for them to build deep, engaging relationships with consumers--the experience marketers gain from this will deliver dividends especially after the economy turns around."

In 2008, the top verticals were retail, financial services, computing and automotive, the same as in 2007, according to the report. The consumer packaged goods vertical saw an increase of 60 percent from 2007.

"Though some categories in the fourth quarter slowed or even dipped, reflecting the current economic challenges, the overall performance is up, confirming interactive's ever-growing importance to the successful marketing mix," said David Silverman, partner, Assurance, PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Search engines are the main source of revenue and had a 19.8 percent increase over the last 12 months. Although a minor contributor to overall revenue, digital video more than doubled its income production from $324 million to $734 million.