US internet users viewed a total of 4.3 trillion display ads from December 2008-November2009, representing a growth rate of 21% from a year earlier, according to the comScore Digital Year in Review.These gains were driven by an 8% increase in the number of people exposed to display ads online and a 21% increase in average frequency.

Mobile Providers Lead Online Display Advertisers

Mobile phone network providers AT&T Inc. (84.3 billion ad impressions) and Verizon (56.8 billion impressions) ranked as the top US online display advertisers from December 2008 - November 2009, while Sprint also ranked in the top ten with 26.2 billion impressions, writes MarketingCharts.

Experian Interactive, which includes ClassesUSA.com, LowerMyBills.com and FreeCreditReport.com, ranked as the number three advertiser with 54.1 billion views, followed by Scottrade (41.1 billion) and eBay (32.3 billion).

Yahoo Dominates Publishers

On the publisher side, Yahoo Sites served the most display ads from December 2008 - November 2009 with 521.2 billion, followed by Fox Interactive Media (which includes MySpace.com) with 367.6 billion and Facebook.com with 329.6 billion.

Magazines Lose One-Fourth of Ad Pages in 2009

The US magazine industry took a serious hit to its advertising revenue in 2009, according to the Publishers Information Bureau. Revenue was down 18.1% for the year and down 12.4% for Q409. It was the most significant drop in at at least the past ten years, reports MediaBuyerPlanner. This precipitous drop in advertisers was likely due at least in part to the increasing popularity of online display ads with consumers.

About the Survey: Data is taken from the US comScore Ad Metrix, which measures online display advertisements, including static and rich media ads, viewed by U.S. consumers. The estimates reflect both IAB and non-IAB display ad sizes, but do not include text and video ads.