According to the latest figures from comScore, 1.1 trillion display ads were served in the U.S. during the first three months of 2010, a significant boost from the same quarter last year.
The 1.1 trillion display ad impressions reflected a 15 percent boost from the 944.4 billion impressions in the first quarter of 2009. Total display ad spending in the first quarter of 2010 reached $2.7 billion, which means the average cost per thousand impressions (CPM) was approximately $2.48, according to comScore.
Display ads include static and rich media ads, but excludes video ads, house ads and very small (< 2,500 pixels in dimension) ads, according to the company.
“The first quarter of 2010 posted strong volume in online display ads, coinciding with increasing expenditure from advertisers and higher CPMs for publishers,” said Jeff Hackett, senior vice president of comScore. “This pickup in activity should bode well for the online advertising industry as we move forward in 2010.”
The much-embattled Facebook claimed the top spot during the first quarter of 2010, accounting for 176.3 billion display ad impressions, or 16.2 percent of the total market.
Yahoo! Sites followed behind with 131.6 billion impressions, or 12.1 percent of the market, while Microsoft Sites had 60.2 billion impressions, or 5.5 percent of the U.S. market.
Fox Interactive Media was fourth with 53.8 billion impressions, or 4.9 percent of the market, followed by AOL LLC with 32.1 billion display ad impressions, or 2.9 percent of the market.
Google Sites had 25.9 billion impressions, or 2.4 percent of the market. Turner Network (15.7 billion/1.4 percent), Glam Media (7.8 billion/0.7 percent), eBay (7.5 billion/0.7 percent) and Tagged.com (6.8 billion/0.6 percent) rounded out the top 10 display ad publishers in the U.S.
AT&T was the top online display advertiser with 26.3 billion impressions, or 2.4 percent of the total during the first quarter. Verizon Communications followed with 21.9 billion impressions, or 2.0 percent of the total.
Scottrade was third with 16.4 billion impressions, or 1.5 percent of the total, followed by Experian Interactive with 15.6 billion impressions, or 1.4 percent of the total.
Sprint Nextel was fifth with 10.1 billion display ad impressions, or 0.9 percent of the total, followed by Netflix with 9.3 billion impressions, or 0.9 percent of the market.
eBay (9.3 billion/0.9 percent), Intuit (8.7 billion/0.8 percent), Privacy Matters 1-2-3 (8.6 billion/0.8 percent) and InterActiveCorp (8.2 billion/0.8 percent) rounded out the top 10 display advertisers in the U.S.
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