Yahoo profits up following advertising boom.

INTERNET BUSINESS NEWS-(C)1995-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

Internet search engine and services company Yahoo has announced that a boom in online advertising has helped to double its fourth quarter 2004 profits.

The company said that excluding profits from the sale of investments it made a fourth quarter profit of USD187m, up from USD75m in the same quarter of 2003. A spokesperson for the company said that 2004 was the year that witnessed the tipping point in advertising, and that the marketing industry recognised the shift in consumers' media habits to the Internet.

Yahoo said that advertising revenue rose by 67% in the fourth quarter of 2004, accounting for 85% of the company's revenue. The California-based company earned USD840m throughout 2004, making a profit of USD526m, up from USD238m in 2003, reports the BBC.

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