(New York; April 3, 2002; Business Wire) In the Online Advertising: Statistics, Strategies, Projections & Trends Report, released today, eMarketer predicts that US online advertising spending will increase 11.0% in 2002--a bounceback from the 11.0% drop in 2001.

Other researchers, such as Lehman Brothers at 10.9%, see similar growth rates. In fact, 16 of the 18 comparative estimates in the report project a jump in online ad spending in 2002. eMarketer reports that the worst of the market's downturn has passed, and that it will rise to $13.5 billion by 2005.

``Online advertising by traditional companies is one area of growth,'' says David Hallerman, eMarketer analyst. ``As the internet audience becomes increasingly mainstream, we'll see more and more cross-media campaigns from traditional advertisers.''

The Online Advertising Report also explains that, in order for the online ad industry to reach its potential, the complexity of pricing models and ad-size standards needs to be addressed. For example, Jupiter Media Metrix predicts that performance-based deals will become increasingly prevalent, rising to 30% of all online ad revenues by 2006.

``The news is where the money is being spent,'' says Hallerman. ``Banner ads, which traditionally have accounted for the bulk of online ad revenues, are declining. Large, rich-media ads are getting better click-through rates. DoubleClick says the big ads, in combination with less ad clutter online, are responsible for click-through rates increasing from the usual 0.25% to 0.50% range to over 0.8% this past month.''

The Online Advertising Report, 272 pages and 318 charts, aggregates data and analysis from a wide range of leading sources, including Forrester Research, AdRelevance, Myers Group, Merrill Lynch and Zenith Media. The report covers US and global online advertising and future growth, direct response and branding, perspective on interactive versus traditional advertising, ad formats, pricing models and leading web publishers.

About eMarketer www.emarketer.com

New York-based eMarketer is a publisher of internet and e-business information for marketing professionals. eMarketer aggregates, filters, organizes and analyzes data from over 1,000 research firms, consultancies, government agencies and other sources. The company offers the most comprehensive database of e-business statistics as well as a variety of reports featuring original analysis prepared by eMarketer's team.