Recession? Economic slowdown? Financial gloom-and-doom? Not online, and not as far as Internet advertising is concerned. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) says that U.S. online ad revenue hit an all-time high of $6.3 billion in Q4 of 2009, a 2.6% increase over the fourth quarter of 2008 and a 14% increase over Q3 of 2009.

My overdramatic opening sentence aside, the economic downturn obviously did impact online advertising last year: The IAB says U.S. ad revenues for all of 2009 dropped 3.4% from 2008 to $22.7 billion.

Search and display ads continue to be the strongest ad formats, with 47% and 35% of all online ad spending, respectively. Digital video ads were a strong piece of Display’s total, showing a 39% increase from 2008 to 2009.

Classified ads took a big hit, dropping by 29% from 2008 to 2009.

There’s more discussion on Techmeme.

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Search Ads: General | Search Ads: Video | Search Marketing: General | Stats: General

About The Author: Matt McGee is Editor-In-Chief of Search Engine Land. His news career includes time spent in TV, radio, and print journalism. His web career continues to include a small number of SEO and social media consulting clients, as well as regular speaking engagements at marketing events around the U.S. He blogs at Small Business Search Marketing and can be found on Twitter at @MattMcGee and/or on Google Plus. You can read Matt's disclosures on his personal blog. See more articles by Matt McGee

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