New numbers from the IAB and PriceWatherhouseCoopers this morning on Q2 2004: Spending hit $2.37 billion, search was $1 billion of that, or 40 percent. Spending for the first half of 2004 is pegged at $4.6 billion, which means 2004 is on pace to exceed 2000 as the biggest year ever for online advertising.
In a (somewhat) related note, Overture will announce today that it is expanding paid search to five new markets: Brazil, Canada, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Also, the SF Chronicle gets some internal Google documents outlining plans for international expansion and frustration over cumbersome internal systems.