WebProNews

As we build our hyper-fast, digitized world, advertisers are beginning to take notice. In 2004, the online newspaper sector reached a milestone by collecting $1 billion in revenues, mostly from advertising. The news comes our way this morning from eMarketer, who says from the look of the first half, 2005 will exceed it's predecessor.

Though that revenue was 1/8 what Yahoo!, Google, AOL, and MSN collected, online newspaper publishers enjoyed a 38% "zoom" in ad revenue, outpacing the overall online ad market's 32.5% growth. In 2005, online news is expected to clear $1.4 billion. If the same pace continues, that number will surpass $2 billion by 2008.

By 2009, as more and more people switch from print to screens, online advertising is expected to account for 7.5% of the nearly $300 billion spent across the media.

eMarketer collected the information for its Online Publishing report from research firms like comScore, Media Metrix, Hitwise, Nielsen/Net Ratings, and Pew Research.

Jason L. Miller is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.