Framingham, Mass.—Online ad spending in the U.S. totaled $7.13 billion in the fourth quarter, up just 0.4% over the same period a year earlier, according to IDC’s “Worldwide and U.S. Internet Ad Spend Report 4Q08.”
Search advertising grew at a rate of 10% in the fourth quarter, while display advertising declined by 7%, IDC found.
Classified ads were hardest hit in the online advertising space, declining by 18% in the fourth quarter.
“All of this does not bode well for the current first quarter,” IDC stated in the report. “U.S. online ad spending may very well experience a decline in 1Q09, and perhaps also in 2Q09.”
—Kate Maddox
