The new No. 1 in online display ads this year, according to researcher eMarketer, is expected to write $2.19 billion in business, compared to $1.62 billion for Yahoo and $1.15 billion for Google, reports Advertising Age.

The new No. 1 will be Facebook. As USA Today puts it, Facebook’s projected $2.19 billion in display ads will likely give it "an 18% share of the $12.3 billion domestic market, eclipsing Yahoo’s 13% and Google’s 9.3%, researcher eMarketer says."

Says the Ad Age article, "While mighty TV still commands the biggest slice of the ad business at 16%, compared to the internet’s 7%, according to ZenithOptimedia, more advertisers are making big branding bets online, an arena that has long been dominated by Google search and the direct-marketing companies that that kind of advertising attracts. In 2010, display advertising, which includes video, grew 23% — faster than search — according to the IAB.

"Recognizing that challenge, Google has made aggressive moves into this area, bolstering its advertising offerings on YouTube and recently paying $390 million for Admeld, a startup that helps publishers sell premium advertising. Yahoo and AOL have been offering bigger ad units that mimic the distracting nature of TV ads with videos that command the entire screen.

"But Facebook isn’t simply benefiting from that trend — it appears to be winning the front to claim higher-value ad dollars online. ‘More marketers are putting money into Facebook, as opposed to general display,’ eMarketer principal analyst David Hallerman said. Simply put: as more companies continue to build out their Facebook pages, they’re also paying to advertise on the site to drive users to those pages."

To read the entire Advertising Age article, please click here.