THE NEW YORK TIMES REPORTS THAT Internet advertising is booming:

Many of the same companies that were badly burned by Internet investments before are aggressively bidding for these sites not just because of the growing online ad business but because, like Dow Jones, they are worried that their current Web sites will not be able to keep up with demand.

“The existing old-line media companies, which have a big stake in where people advertise, have to recognize this medium,” said Larry S. Kramer, a founder and chief executive of MarketWatch. “Our audience means more to them now because it’s not just revenue they are going to pick up. It’s revenue they are going to lose.”

Online advertising is expected reach $9.7 billion in 2004, or about 3.7 percent of United States advertising spending, according to a recent Merrill Lynch report. Still, that number is expected to grow 19 percent this year as the nation’s largest advertisers shift budgets from print and network television to cable and the Internet, the report said.

As a result, publishers are being forced to confront a potential advertising inventory crunch. There is no physical limitation to the number of Web pages, of course, but advertisers want to be placed on the most popular pages and those which cater to their most profitable audiences. And those kind of pages are in shorter supply.

Sounds like good news for Henry Copeland, anyway!