Five years ago: 1996 Web ad spend is $71m and counting

Advertising on the World Wide Web made revenues of about $71.7 million in the first half of 1996, according to Jupiter Communications' AdSpend data.

Second quarter turnover was $46.4 million, up 83 per cent on Q1. Netscape took $7.7 million of that total with Microsoft the highest ad spender at $2 million.

PCDN Comment: The numbers are tiny but the trend is hard to miss. As marketers, ad agencies and other related concerns learn the differentiation of online advertising - immediacy, quality of audience, interactivity, flexibility - the growth should be strong and long-term.