A merry merry Christmas
to advertisers

The first 18 days of the holiday season resulted in more than $7 billion in online retail spending, a 17 percent gain compared with the corresponding period last year, according to the first in a series of twice-weekly holiday season e-commerce updates from comScore, reports MarketingCharts.

"The online holiday shopping season got off to a slow start in the first week of November, but it has since picked up sharply," said comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni. "Sales in the first 10 days of November were up modestly versus year ago, but surged to levels in excess of 20 percent by mid-November."

"The growth rates during the second and third weeks of November are likely to be better indicators of how the remainder of the season will play out," Fulgoni added.

comScore also announced its official forecast for 2007 holiday e-commerce spending, projecting approximately $29.5 billion in online consumer spending in November and December - a 20 percent increase compared with last year's holiday season.