IDC: Online-ad spending down again

Spending on Internet advertising declined in the United States and worldwide for the second quarter of 2009, and a recovery may still be a ways off.

U.S. spending dropped 7 percent, to $6.2 billion from $6.6 billion, and worldwide spending was off 5 percent, to $13.9 billion from $14.7 billion, compared with the year-ago quarter, according to data released Wednesday by market analyst IDC.

It was the second decline in as many quarters. For the first three months of 2009, Internet advertising revenue in the U.S. was $5.5 billion, down a notable 5 percent from the $6.1 billion for the fourth quarter of 2008.

The classified advertising format saw the greatest decline, tumbling 17 percent in the second quarter, while display advertising was the least affected by the slump, losing 12 percent, IDC said.

Most ad publishers posted double-digit losses in the second quarter, with Monster.com recording the greatest decline, at 31 percent. Google was the only publisher to record growth in the second period, posting low single-digit growth.

IDC said that based on guidance provided by online-ad publishers, it expects U.S. advertisers to decrease their online-ad spending in the third quarter but that the Internet advertising climate is not expected to get any worse.

"We think the industry will continue to see losses in the third and fourth quarters, but the growth rates--or the loss rates, if you will--will eventually begin to improve," Karsten Weide, program director for digital media and entertainment at IDC, said in a statement. "However, we also believe the industry may have to wait until mid-2010 until it sees real growth again."