• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, June 2, 2010

The general trend in print advertising that has become evident in newspapers and consumer magazines also made itself known in business-to-business publishing, according to the latest figures from American Business Media, as declines continued in the first part of 2010. However, there are some signs that the rate of decline is moderating.

ABM says total B2B print ad revenues slipped 6.4% from $1.9 billion in the first quarter of 2009 to $1.8 billion in the first quarter of 2010.

Compounding this loss, the B2B market also suffered another round of declines in trade show revenue, which fell 8.4% from $2.4 billion to $2.2 billion. These losses were partially offset by a 10% increase in digital revenue, which rose from $1 billion to $1.1 billion. The grand total showed a 3.8% decline from $5.3 billion to $5.1 billion.

While it's difficult to portray more declines as good news, it's worth noting these are smaller losses than in previous quarters. From the first quarter of 2008 to the first quarter of 2009, total B2B print ad revenues fell 26.1%, and trade show revenues fell 19.7%.

There was also clear evidence that the rate of decline lessened significantly within the first quarter of 2010: monthly print ad revenues fell 12.4% in January, 7.5% in February and 3.1% in March.

The trend in B2B print ad revenues resembles other print media, where smaller declines in the first part of 2010 suggest they are nearing the bottom (holding out hope of a recovery later this year).

In newspapers, total print ad revenues declined 11.4% in the first quarter of 2010, according to the Newspaper Association of America, compared to sequential declines of 29.7%, 30.2%, 29%, and 25.6% over the four quarters of 2009.

Meanwhile, total consumer magazine ad pages fell 9.4% in the first quarter of 2010, according to the Publishers Information Bureau, compared to sequential declines of 26%, 29.4%, 26.6%, and 21.6% over the four quarters of 2009.