Internet ad spending continues slide

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The recession continued to cut into companies’ resources as Internet advertising spending in the U.S. fell more than 5% in the second quarter, according to a report released today.

It is the second consecutive quarterly drop in online advertising, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers quarterly report. This is the first time since the dot-com bust in 2002 that online ad spending has dipped for two consecutive quarters compared with the same quarters of the previous year.

From April to June this year, 5.4 billion was spent on online ads -- down 5.3% from a year earlier, when advertisers spent $5.8 billion.

Despite the drop in numbers, online advertising is doing well considering the economic climate, said Randall Rothenberg, president and chief executive of the Interactive Advertising Bureau.

“We are in one of the most difficult economic slumps in decades. Interactive is one of the advertising sectors that has been least affected,” Rothenberg said. “As the economy improves, we’re confident that brands will devote an even greater share of their budgets to reaching consumers as they make interactive media a larger part of their lives.”

-- W.J. Hennigan