Spending on Search Marketing continues to be the biggest contributor to online advertising revenues in the U.S., according to the latest report on the first half of 2012 released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and Pricewaterhouse Coopers.

Search ads represented 48% of the overall interactive advertising market in the first six months of 2012, bringing in $8.1 billion. The 2012 revenue figure is 19% higher than what was recorded during the same period of 2011, when search represented 46% of the market.

The report also showed that performance (often cost-per-click) pricing, which is strongly associated with search as well as with the Google Display Network, remains the dominant pricing model online, continuing to grow in strength. Performance deals accounted for 67% of spend in the first half, while display dipped to just 31% and hybrid deals represented just 2% of spending.

For more on the report, including more detailed data on other sectors, check out our story on Marketing Land.

Related Topics: Channel: Strategy | Stats: Spend Projections | Top News

About The Author: Pamela Parker is a contributing editor for Search Engine Land and Executive Features Editor at Marketing Land. She’s a well-respected authority on digital marketing, having reported and written on the subject since 1998, including a stint as managing editor of ClickZ. She’s also worked to help monetize independent publishers’ sites at Federated Media Publishing. She blogs about media and marketing at The River and about cooking, gardening and parenthood at Free Range. She can be found on Twitter as @pamelaparker. See more articles by Pamela Parker

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