NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Internet advertising sales posted a 14 percent jump to $1.66 billion in the second quarter from the comparable period last year, a study released on Tuesday showed.

The results were driven by a sharp increase in paid-search advertising, which made up nearly a third of the total spending in the latest quarter, according to the report by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Last year, it accounted for just nine percent of the revenue, the study showed. For the first half of this year, sales climbed 10.5 percent to $3.29 billion over the same period of last year.

"For the third quarter in a row, revenue figures mirror the reality of the marketplace, which includes advertiser success and revolutionary research that proves online advertising's effectiveness. Our prognosis for a continued and steady recovery is being realized and the outlook remains bright," said Greg Stuart, president and CEO of the industry group, in a statement.

Marketers are throwing their weight and dollars behind interactive advertising as Internet usage and broadband adoption continues to escalate, he added.

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"Our prognosis for a continued and steady recovery is being realized and the outlook remains bright," said Stuart.

Keyword search services, such as search engines like Google and Yahoo! (YHOO: Research, Estimates), remained the dominant strength for the overall interactive ad industry, representing 31 percent of total ad revenues for the second quarter of 2003 -- more than tripling its stake over the same quarter a year ago, the report showed.

"Recent revenue results strongly suggest the industry has rebounded, reflecting improving fundamentals: increased buy-side demand, firming prices, an improved selling process and continued strength in broadband user adoption," said Pete Petrusky, director of new media at PricewaterhouseCoopers, in a statement.  

-- Reuters contributed to the story