Consumers are losing confidence, disposable income belongs to the very wealthiest and tech stocks are taking a beating on Wall Street. Are the dark days upon us? Not according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau. It reports that U.S. Internet advertising revenues exceeded $5.2 billion for the third quarter of 2007. That's 25.3 percent, or $1.1 billion, more than the third quarter of 2006 and yet another historic high.

In fact, the IAB reports that all three quarters in in 2007 have set new highs. Revenues for the first nine months of 2007 totaled $15.2 billion, a 26 percent increase over the same stretch in 2006. Here's a chart:

Marshall Kirkpatrick at Read/WriteWeb thoroughly embarrasses himself by claiming that with its $4.23 billion in third quarter revenues, Google alone makes up for all but $900 million of the industry's record quarter. Nonsense; Google's figure is worldwide, while the IAB's numbers are U.S. only, and a quick check of Google's earnings release would have told Kirkpatrick that Google's U.S. take was $2.2 billion. Still, that is 42 percent of the domestic total. Would the rest of you please pick it up?

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