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Global Ad Spend Decline Slows in Q2: Nielsen

The decline in global ad spending looks to have bottomed out in the second quarter of the year, with the rate of decline in spending slowing from the previous three months, according to Nielsen, The New York Times reports.

Global ad spending slid 5.8% in Q2 09, following a 7.9% decline in Q1. The results coincide with comments from ad executives who have commented that the worst is likely over, though the chief executives of Havas and WPP have both cautioned there are no clear signs of an advertising market recovery as of yet.

The Nielsen data does not include spending on the internet, which has held up better than most traditional media. In Britain, online spending overtook television in the first half of the year, according to a report published this week by the Internet Advertising Bureau of Britain. Online ad expenditure in Britain climbed 4.6% in the first half of 2009. The internet now accounts for 23.5% of the ad market, while TV holds 21.9% and print maintains the lead, at 30%. Print, however, has suffered the biggest declines.

Online’s ad share in Britain has grown past TV share in part because British marketers were quick to embrace online, but also because TV has a lower market share than in other countries as the biggest TV broadcaster, the BBC, does not accept advertising. Eva Berg-Winters, online advertising expert at PricewaterhouseCoopers, which compiled the numbers for the Internet Advertising Bureau, says she would not be surprised if TV rebounds more strongly than other traditional media and overtakes the internet again next year.

Nielsen Online’s latest report has shown that the online display advertising market grew by 11% compared to the first half of 2008, and increased by 44% when compared with 2006 figures, writes Global Gold.