• by Wayne Friedman , February 27, 2012

Global advertising will slightly improve in 2012, thanks to the U.S. presidential elections, major sporting events and Japan's economic recovery.

Advertising spending will climb 4.9% to $465.5 billion in 2012, predicts the Global Advertising Forecast from Strategy Analytics. This follows a 3.8% hike in 2011 over 2010.

The big gainers? Online advertising -- still on a strong growth trajectory -- will rise 12.8%, to $83.2 billion, and will account for 18% of overall global ad spending. TV, still the biggest category, will be up by 5% to $188.5 billion, which is 40% of all global spending. Global print advertising will improve slightly by 0.5% $122.9 billion.

Ed Barton, director of digital media strategies for Strategy Analytics, says that conditions will be even stronger in two years. "We expect that total ad spend will surpass half a trillion ($500 billion) dollars in 2014.”

But the U.S. ad economy will slightly lag results in contrast to other global ad economies. U.S. advertising spending is expected to increase by less than the global rate, at 2.7% this year, to $152.1 billion. The good news is that this is almost four times the gain -- 0.6% -- in 2011. Europe is expected to climb a bit faster than the U.S. -- up 3.7% to $136.3 billion in 2012.

U.S. online advertising is estimated to grow 6.7% to $27.4 billion; with TV improving 3.7% and print declining 1.5% Online advertising business in Europe is expected to improve -- up by 11.7%, with TV, gaining 3.4% and other traditional media up 2.4%. Print will slip 0.1%.

The U.S. continues to be a leader in terms of share of TV advertising -- 41% compared to Europe's 35%, and the UK's 24%.