Hard-Hit Net Ad Stocks Rise Monday

Internet advertising stocks, which have taken a battering of late, edged upward Monday amid a flurry of press releases and other developments.

Net advertising bellwether DoubleClick (DCLK Quote - Cramer on DCLK - Stock Picks), set to meet with a select group of analysts this afternoon to talk about opportunities in email and wireless advertising, was up 3.2% to $34.75. Earlier in the day, the combination portal-sweepstakes site iWon said it signed a two-year agreement to be one of the 1,300-plus sites represented by DoubleClick in an advertising network.

Meanwhile, DoubleClick rival L90 (LNTY Quote - Cramer on LNTY - Stock Picks) was up even more Monday afternoon, up 10.7% to $7.44. The ad firm said Monday morning that it is serving more than 100 million Internet advertisements a day, or 3 million a month. DoubleClick has sued L90, alleging that the firm has infringed on a DoubleClick ad-serving patent.

Also in positive territory were Engage (ENGA Quote - Cramer on ENGA - Stock Picks), up 5.6%, and 24/7 Media (TFSM Quote - Cramer on TFSM - Stock Picks), up 5.8%.

Internet advertising hasn't been a bullish place in recent months. Last week, Merrill Lynch Net analyst Henry Blodget said on the heels of a preannouncement by advertising firm Avenue A (AVEA Quote - Cramer on AVEA - Stock Picks) that more preannouncements would be likely, and that DoubleClick and other Internet leaders would post "solid but not great advertising and commerce revenue results in Q3."