Microsoft News Tracker

Rachel Rosmarin at Forbes:

Dollars earned from online advertising reached a new peak in the first quarter of 2006, while Google’s share of those dollars continues to grow.

Internet advertising revenues totaled $3.9 billion in the first quarter, according to data released Tuesday from the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers, up 38% from the year-ago quarter and 6% from the previous quarter.

But each quarter, Google’s revenue growth has outpaced the overall growth of the market. In the year-ago quarter, Google’s $1.26 billion in revenues were worth 45% of the $2.8 billion in total Internet advertising revenues. Last quarter, Google’s share was 53%, and in the first quarter of 2006, Google’s portion came to 58% of the total.

There are also some new search stats in the full article, but it’s all a familiar tune: Google is leaving Yahoo and Microsoft in the dust. Here’s a closing factoid:

Google will earn approximately $23 per U.S. Internet user in 2006, according to Merrill Lynch analyst Justin Post.

$23 here, $23 there - pretty soon you’re talking the license fee for Microsoft Windows on the user’s PC.