• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, October 11, 2012

While some Web publishers have been squeezed by tighter ad budgets and a slow economy, new figures show the online ad market is healthier than ever.
 
In fact, in the first half of the year, online ad revenues climbed 14% year-over-year to an all-time high of $17 billion, according to the latest figures from the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PwC US.
 
“Solid double-digit growth in a stagnating economy is a significant accomplishment,” Sherrill Mane, SVP of Research, Analytics and Measurement at the IAB, said Thursday.
 
“There is evidence that CPMs are maintaining, and even increasing, further substantiating the vitality of the Internet ad market,” Mane added.
 
Digital video, a component of display-related advertising, saw an increase of 18% year-over-year -- bringing in a little over $1 billion in revenue in the first two quarters of 2012, compared to nearly $900 million in the first six months of 2011.
 
Along in the first half of the year, search revenues totaled $8.1 billion -- up 19% from nearly $6.8 billion during the same time frame in 2011.
 
Display-related ad revenues in the first half of the year totaled almost $5.6 billion, accounting for 33% of 2012 half-year revenues -- up 4% from $5.3 billion in the first half of 2011.
 
Mobile, meanwhile, generated significant growth  -- almost doubling year-over-year figures -- up 95% to $1.2 billion in half-year 2012 from $636 million the comparable period in 2011.
 
Retail advertisers constituted the largest category of online ad spending for the first half of this year -- claiming 20% of the total revenues at $3.4 billion.
 
Coming in second place, automotive brought in $2.2 billion for the first-half 2012, or a 13% share of market spend -- up from $1.7 billion during the same period in 2011.
 
IAB sponsors the IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report, which is conducted independently by the New Media Group of PwC.