Booming Cyber Monday!

At USA Today, "Buyers click away as Cyber Monday sales jump 18%."

The shopping season's biggest online holiday was more popular than ever yesterday as consumers rushed to the Web for exclusive Cyber Monday deals.

Online traffic was up 43% from last year, says content delivery network Akamai, and online sales were up 18% over Cyber Monday 2010 as of 9 p.m. ET, says IBM Smarter Commerce, a Web performance analytics firm for 500 of the largest retail websites.

Matt Shay, CEO of the National Retail Federation, says sales on Cyber Monday and over the long weekend show retail is "providing a needed shot in the arm to our nascent recovery."

RELATED: At New York Times, "A Shopping Day Invented for the Web Comes of Age."