or years it was the bridesmaid of the advertising sector, with a share of ad revenue far below its popularity with users. Now Internet advertising expenditure has surged to stand four times larger than at the height of the dotcom boom, according to a report.

Internet advertising expenditure in the UK rose 60 per cent year-on-year to hit �653.3 million in 2004, leaping from �407.8 million in 2003, says the report from PricewaterhouseCoopers, the World Advertising Research Centre and the Internet Advertising Bureau. The share of total advertising expenditure spend on pop-up ads, paid listings on search engines and other forms of Internet advertising was 3.9 per cent for the year, overtaking radio�s share of 3.8 per cent for the first time.... more