National Advertising Already In a Recession: GOOG, YHOO, TWX, et al Not Likely To Be Spared

Says TNS, via Reuters.  Please do not hallucinate that this will somehow not affect online advertising.  In most prior recessions, advertising spending on all media except small, emerging ones has declined.  The Internet no longer qualifies as "small" and "emerging." (And this status didn't spare it last time).  Online ad spending should do better than spending on traditional media, but if current trends continue, this won't be saying much.  Reuters:

U.S. advertising spending is seen "challenged" for the rest of the year after slipping 0.3 percent in the first half to $72.59 billion, according to a report by TNS Media Intelligence issued on Tuesday. It was the first time U.S, advertising spending has fallen for two consecutive quarters since 2001, the report said, and reflected an overall weakness across economic sectors. "While the protracted downturn in automotive spending has been a prime contributor, the overall results reflect weakness across a wide range of industries and advertisers," TNS Chief Executive and President Steven Fredericks said in a statement.