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New eMarketer projections indicate 2004 will be another boom year for online advertising, with spending expected to increase 28.8% overall from 2003.

The projections, issued today, put total ad spending at $9.4 billion for the year, with another increase of nearly 21% in 2005.

Spending on paid search is forecast to reach $3.9 billion this year, and top $4.6 billion in 2005.

eMarketer benchmarks its online ad spending projections based on data from the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

"The Internet is now one of the mainstream media," said eMarketer Senior Analyst David Hallerman. "Though paid search is one of the biggest drivers, accounting for 42% of the market this year, spending on other forms of online advertising including display ads and rich media will also increase significantly."

In fact, for the remaining 58% of the spending pie, the growth rate will be 14.9%.

"Any medium would be doing cartwheels over that kind of growth," Hallerman said. "Paid search is the star this year again, but it's the industry as a whole that is really hitting its stride."

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