U.S. consumers spent more on online content last year, with the biggest boost coming from entertainment and lifestyle news, a trade group said Thursday.

Consumers handed over $1.8 billion in 2004 to content providers, a 14 percent increase over 2003, the Online Publishers Association said.

Online personals and dating remained the leading paid-content category, reaching a record high of $469 million, or 4 percent more than the previous year.

But the biggest jump was in paid content related to entertainment and lifestyles. Spending in that category rose 90 percent to $413.5 million in 2004 from $217.6 million in 2003. As a result, the category toppled business and investment as the No. 2 content category, and could easily take the top position if its current rate of growth continues, the OPA said. Spending on business and investment, which moved to No. 3, declined by 6 percent.

Two other categories that posted exceptional growth were sports and games. Spending in those areas increased by 38 percent and 22 percent, respectively. Consumers last year spent $89 million on games, and $53 million on sports, making them the No. 6 and No. 10 categories, respectively.

"The fact that entertainment/lifestyles, sports and games were by far the year's fastest growing paid-content categories is further evidence that the web is on its way to becoming a true entertainment medium for U.S. consumers," Michael Zimbalist, president of OPA, said in a statement.

Within the entertainment and lifestyles category, online music sales was the driver behind the huge boost in spending. Single purchases of song tracks accounted for 15 percent of the category's sales, compared to 11 percent in 2003.

In terms of numbers, 19 million consumers paid for online content in the fourth quarter of 2004, up 2.6 million from the same period a year ago. Almost 12 percent of U.S. Internet users paid for content during the quarter, and the OPA believes the paid-content market has "significant room" for growth.

Rankings, full-year spending and growth rates for the remaining categories are research, No. 4, $115 million, 6 percent; personal growth, No. 5, $97 million, 7 percent; general news, No. 7, $88 million, 0.4 percent; community-made directories, No. 8, $71 million, -19 percent; greeting cards, No. 9, $43 million, 6.8 percent; and credit help, No. 11, $27 million, -26 percent.

The OPA's Paid Online Content U.S. Market Spending Report is based on research from ComScore Networks, which calculates the results of the study by monitoring the online transactions of more than 1 million U.S. consumers.