As growth rates for the online ad sector increased at the close close 2006, Piper Jaffray adjusted its outlook for the future, as the research firm now sees spending on online advertising to top $80 billion by 2011. Piper sees people as being the driving force behind the growth in online ad spending, ClickZ reports. As people continue to spend more time online consuming and creating content, this will provide more opportunities for online advertisers, who will increase their online ad budgets, Piper stated.

Another factor is the increasingly fragmented media choices available to advertisers. Piper believes this will result in advertisers spending more across additional media platforms, in an effort to reach their target markets.

Video is the media format that's expected to see most of the spending growth, with funds being reallocated from TV to online.