Internet Ad Spending Rises 7.7%

According to the latest numbers from Kantar Media, overall ad spending in the U.S. grew 6.4 percent during the first nine months of 2010, with the Internet sector seeing even bigger growth in that stretch.

Total advertising expenditures reached $94.06 billion in the U.S. from January through September 2010, and ad spending in the third quarter of the year was up 8.7 percent from the same quarter in 2009, the largest quarterly gain since the end of 2004, according to Kantar Media.

“The advertising recovery expanded during the third quarter to include stronger participation by the long-tail of marketers beyond the Top 1000,” said Jon Swallen, SVP Research at Kantar Media. “Having fewer resources, this segment was previously cautious about raising budgets and it lagged behind the early year rebound in ad spending. Smaller advertisers are now as fully vested as their large counterparts and in that sense, the advertising recovery has reached a significant milestone.”

Television media led the way with growth of 10.5 percent in the first nine months of 2010, with spot TV seeing a gain of 27.8 percent. Spanish language TV saw growth of 11.9 percent, helped by the World Cup during the summer months. Cable TV and network TV saw growth of 9.0 percent and 6.1 percent, respectively. These two segments were bolstered by bigger spending from the auto, financial service and consumer package goods industries.

Internet (display ads only) followed with growth of 7.7 percent, while outdoor media saw a gain of 7.3 percent in the first nine months of 2010.

According to the Internet Advertising Bureau, Internet advertising revenues hit $6.4 billion in the third quarter of 2010, the biggest quarterly result ever observed for the online advertising industry. This reflected a 17 percent increase from the same quarter in the previous year.

Radio media saw ad spending rise 6.2 percent in the first nine months of 2010, with spending on national spot radio experiencing a 15.9 percent surge in spending.

Magazine media saw a gain of 2.6 percent, with Sunday magazines seeing particularly strong growth of 8.1 percent. This segment was aided by bigger spending by pharmaceutical companies and home-improvement retailers, according to Kantar Media.

Newspaper media, however, saw a decline of 2.9 percent overall. Though national newspapers saw a 6.8 percent boost in ad spending, and Spanish language newspapers saw a 2.0 percent boost, local newspapers experienced a 4.4 percent decline in ad spending in the first three quarters of 2010.

Ad spending from the top-10 advertisers rose 5.9 percent in the first nine months of 2010. General Motors Corp. increased its spending 20.6 percent, while Procter & Gamble Co. increased its spending by 18.7 percent, and AT&T Inc. increased its spending by 15.7 percent.

Verizon Communications Inc. decreased its ad spending by 13.1 percent during this period, while Johnson & Johnson decreased its spending by 7.3 percent.

Procter & Gamble Co. led all advertisers with $2.25 billion in ad spending in the first nine months of 2010.

The top-10 advertising categories saw 7.4 percent growth in spending, with automotive leading the way in terms of total spending ($9.15 billion) and year-over-year growth (23.7 percent).

Sources:

http://eon.businesswire.com/news/eon/20110104005464/en/Kantar-Media-Reports-U.S.-Advertising-Expenditures-Increased

http://www.iab.net/about_the_iab/recent_press_releases/press_release_archive/press_release/pr-111710