This article originally appeared on July 26, 2007.

While online advertising has placed much attention on display and video, Internet search is still an important way for marketers and large brand advertisers to reach consumers and understand their interests.

That’s the upshot from a whopping $62 investment deal that iCrossing announced Thursday. The round was led by Goldman Sachs as well as existing investors Oak Investment Partners, RRE Ventures and StarVest Partners.

iCrossing, which began as a search marketing firm in 1998, has grown into arguably the largest company in the space and has evolved into a digital marketing agency that competes with the likes of Publicis’ Digitas and aQuantive’s Ave A/Razorfish, according to CEO Jeff Herzog.

“Having search at our core is the most important differentiator,” Mr. Herzog said. “By search we mean consumer insight, interest, and intent.”

The company has been on a buying spree in the past year, acquiring San Francisco-based paid search agency NewGate Internet, U.K.-based social media marketing company Spannerworks, and online marketing company Sharp Analytics. It has raised $110 million total in funding to date.

iCrossing will use the new funding for growth and even more acquisitions. The company seeks to grow its web development and social media services, Mr. Herzog said.

“Raising this money adds to our war chest and strategic acquisition capital,” Mr. Herzog said.

Marketing and branding within user-generated content and social networking web sites—otherwise known as social media—is a hot area that clients are asking for, Mr. Herzog added.

iCrossing’s client list include 40 Fortune 500 companies such as General Motors and Coca-Cola.

The company uses its analysis of search to help a client’s marketing campaigns and branding. For example, a packaged goods company that views itself as an oral care company may find that people who search on the company search instead for oral health, Mr. Herzog said. These distinctions can help in the design of everything from web sites to marketing campaigns.

iCrossing’s expansion, moreover, provides access to large clients’ full digital marketing budget, as opposed to just their search budget. And with the rabid consolidation going on in the online advertising field, the move could also help for a potential future buyout.

“Search is still the most important area of online advertising but if you can offer a broader array of services it’s more desirable both from a client and a potential acquisition standpoint,” said Greg Sterling of Sterling Market Intelligence. 

(Related: "Search Ad Agency 360i Goes Solo.")