The newspaper industry posted the slowest decline in ad revenue since 2007 in the last year, that’s according to an Associated Press report discussed on Star News Online. The news, however is mixed. Newspaper ad revenue dropped 10% in the Q1 2010 from the previous year. Incredibly, that’s the smallest decline since the end of 2007.

It was growth in the online sector that helped to slow down the negative downtrend. Online ad revenues grew by 5 percent since last year. But across the whole industry, online ads only accounted for $730 million, while print ads earned $6 billion. It is a relatively small piece of the pie, but important nonetheless.

While the news is welcomed by the newspaper industry, the numbers speak for themselves. Newspaper ad revenues have dropped a precipitous 46% since four years ago. But somehow the industry still has hope that ad revenues will level out. In a statement by AP they said, “Although newspapers are still hurting, the first-quarter trend offered the latest sign that the misery may not last much longer. The industry’s year-over-year declines in ad revenue have eased in each of the last three quarters.”

John Sturm, NAA President and CEO from Scarborough Research firm also stated that “nearly 100 million adults continue to read a print newspaper every day and 168 million adults read a newspaper in print or online in the past week. In addition, the latest Nielsen Online data found that newspaper websites attracted a record 74.4 million unique visitors per month on average in the first quarter of 2010 – more than one-third (37 percent) of all Internet users.”

These are the kind of stats have helped increase overall confidence as the industry waits with eager longing to regain the stability that kept the newspaper advertising industry afloat years ago.

via Star News Online

Have you ever wondered who the typical jewelry buyer was? Perhaps not surprisingly, jewelry buying is still largely done at brick-and-mortar retailers. However, the online jewelry industry has grown rapidly over the past decade (even despite the current, global recession), a trend that is not expected to slow down any time soon. The graphic below illustrates the anatomy  of a typical jewelry buyer, who he is, what he buys and when he buys it:

(click image to enlarge)

Facebook is now serving more banner ads than any other site on the Internet, according to Cnet. This is big news as it puts Facebook ahead of it’s main competition, Yahoo!, for the very first time.

Facebook’s wild growth doesn’t seem to be slowing down either. According to the ComScore study (referenced in this article), Facebook’s display ad impressions reached 176.3 billion in the first quarter of 2010, up almost 200% from the previous year. Yahoo! trailed behind with 131.5 billion and Microsoft with 60.1 billion impressions. Over the same time last year, Facebook trailed Yahoo! as well as Fox Interactive Media.

Perhaps the most significant aspect of this changing of the guard, is that Yahoo! and Microsoft both display ads on sites outside their massive network, while Facebook only displays ads on its site. This, of course, may change as many within the rumor mill claim that the social media behemoth will soon  launch their own ad network. The rumors are perpetuated by Facebook’s desire to expand their overall web presence by providing new social plugins and personalization products.

Via CNet

Last year, nearly three-fourths of all US wedding-related spending occurred between May and October. With nearly six thousand weddings a day, it should come as no surprise that the $48 Billion dollar wedding industry is as large as it is. The graphic below illustrates where and how this spending takes place:

(click image to enlarge)

With the release of the iPad and the continued proliferation of the iPhone, there has been a steady increase in discussion about the mobile market and how marketers plan to deliver their ads on the emerging platform. As described in an article from Wall Street Journal, by Jennifer Valentino-DeVries, the advertising behemoth, Google, has recently talked about eventually becoming a “mobile first” company, putting focus on the mobile market before the personal computer market. And Apple has also been increasing its stake in mobile advertising. But will the mobile market live up to its hype? Some aren’t so enthusiastic.

One such skeptic is Kevin Ryan, former CEO of online advertising company DoubleClick, and founder and chairman of the high-end discount retailer Gilt Groupe. Ryan believes that “the real answer” to the questions about the future of mobile advertising is that it isn’t going to be nearly as big of a market as people think. But Ryan also recognizes that “the answer that people want to hear is that mobile is going to be huge.” One of his chief concerns about the platform is that “the screen is just too small.” However, Ryan says that the iPad may be the first device that can effectively display advertisements to consumers.

Although spending on mobile ads is slowly increasing, it still represents a small piece of the whole pie. According to the market research firm eMarketer, overall online advertising saw a total of $22.4 billion in 2009, of which mobile ads accounted for only $416 million, less than 2%. That was almost 50% short of the $760 million in spending that eMarketer had predicted.

As far as purchases go, very few retail sites secure purchases from mobile phones, although he sites his company as an exception due to offering limited items at highly reduced rates. Ryan, does however stress the importance of the mobile content as a whole and believes that other subscription and pricing ideas may work very well. “There’s no inherent reason why advertising has to drive everything,” noted Ryan.

via Wall Street Journal

TV sales are alive and well. And the behavior surrounding a TV purchase itself has changed  Not only  are people are now buying their TVs online more ever before, they are also spending more time researching before making a purchase. The types of TVs being purchased are also changing, with LCDs now accounting for the majority of all TVs purchased in America.

(click image to enlarge)

This year’s Mother’s Day economy is expected to be worth nearly $15 Billion, signaling a 4% increase from last year’s spending for the holiday. The graphic below illustrates how this spending will be comprised–where it’s coming from and also what types of gifts are being purchased.

(click image to enlarge)

According to the Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Index, it seems that the world is finally recovering from the “Great Recession”. To Neilsen:

“Globally, the index reached 92 in the first quarter – just two points shy of the high score posted in the third quarter of 2007 before the recession swept across the world. Confidence hit an all-time low of 77 index points in early 2009.”

While consumer confidence seems to be up across the board, it has not risen evenly. The regions that lead the increase in confidence appear to be Asian and Latin America, while the North American and European economies seem slower to recover.

According to Dr. Venkatesh Bala, Chief Economist at The Cambridge Group, a part of The Nielsen Company.

“For the first time in two years, Nielsen’s global consumer data provides evidence that economic prospects are improving—a sign manufacturers and retailers have been eagerly waiting for that consumer spending intentions are turning into actual spending reality.”

Other findings from the Study include:

• Asia Pacific posted the highest increase in confidence of the regions – up 8 points
• Chinese confidence levels are back up to its all-time high of 108 in Q1 2005
• Latin America jumped 5 points, with Brazil leading the region
• Europe posted a two point increase, but Germany and Italy declined 3 points

via Neilsen