US advertising spend slows in last quarter of 2007

The last quarter of 2007 saw the US advertising market continuing to slow, with total expenditures showing a 0.1 per cent year-on-year decrease.

That is according to TNS media intelligence, which revealed that last year closed with measured advertising spending of $148.99 billion.

The internet captured a 7.6 per cent share of measured advertising spending in 2007, representing a one per cent increase on the figure from the previous year.

Jon Swallen, senior vice president of research at TNS media intelligence, commented: "As a whole, the ad market remains stalled and is being engulfed by the spreading pessimism about general economic conditions.

"Fourth quarter performance was indicative of this malaise and early figures from 2008 suggest the growth rate for measured ad spending has not appreciably changed.

"A cyclical boost from the elections and Olympics still waits on the horizon. However, marketers are being cautious with their core ad budgets faced with concerns about consumer spending and corporate profits."