Online advertising in US rises 16 pct in 1Q

New figures show Internet advertising in the U.S. is still growing at a robust clip as marketers pursue the growing online audience and data analysis helps to target their pitches at people most likely to buy their products and services.

A report released Monday by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers says U.S. advertisers poured $9.6 billion into their campaigns during the first three months of the year. That's up 16 percent from $8.3 billion at the same time last year.

For all of 2012, U.S. online advertising grew 15 percent.

The steady rise in online advertising has been a boon to Internet companies such as Google Inc. while hobbling other media outlets that relied on printed products.