Skip to main content

U.S. Telcos Fuel the Rise in Online Display Ads

comScore released an overview of the U.S. online display advertising market for Q1 2010, which showed strong gains when compared to the market decline in 2009. U.S. Internet users received a record 1.1 trillion display ads during the first quarter of 2010, marking a 15-percent increase versus a year ago.

Total U.S. display ad spending in Q1 reached an estimated $2.7 billion, with the average cost per thousand impressions (CPM) equal to $2.48.

"Following a severe ad recession that began in late 2008 and continued through the first three quarters of 2009, we've been seeing a strong resurgence in the online display ad market," said Jeff Hackett, comScore senior vice president.

The first quarter of 2010 posted strong volume in online display ads, coinciding with increasing expenditure from advertisers and higher CPMs for publishers. This pickup in activity should bode well for the online advertising industry as we move forward in 2010.

Facebook.com led all online publishers during Q1 with 176 billion display ad impressions, representing 16.2 percent market share. Yahoo! Sites ranked second with 132 billion impressions (12.1 percent), followed by Microsoft Sites with 60 billion impressions (5.5 percent) and Fox Interactive Media with 53 billion impressions (4.9 percent).

AT&T led competitors as the top online display advertiser in Q1 with 26.3 billion impressions, accounting for 2.4 percent of all display ads. Verizon held the second position with 21.9 billion (2.0 percent), followed by Scottrade Inc. with 16.4 billion (1.5 percent) Experian Interactive with 15.6 billion (1.4 percent) and Sprint Nextel Corporation with 10.1 billion (0.9 percent).

Popular posts from this blog

The Smartphone Market's Premium Pivot

The global smartphone market closed 2025 with a story less about recovery and more about transformation. Premium product, ecosystem lock-in, and manufacturing scale are now the forces shaping competition. For business and technology leaders, the latest IDC market study data confirms that smartphones remain a critical indicator of consumer demand, supply chain health, and AI commercialization at the edge. Smartphone Market Development Global smartphone shipments grew 2.3 percent year-over-year in Q4 2025, reaching 336.3 million units and bringing full-year volumes to 1.26 billion units — a modest 1.9 percent annual increase, according to IDC. This smartphone growth emerged despite a memory shortage crisis, tariff volatility, supply chain disruption, and macroeconomic headwinds. What stabilized demand? Two factors: sustained growth in premium devices and strong foldable momentum, combined with accelerated purchases as consumers bought ahead of anticipated price increases. Buyers weren...