• by Michael Shields , January 21, 2005

Business-to-business ad pages increased 3.7 percent in November 2004 versus the same month in 2003, while revenue increased 7 percent, according to American Business Media.

It appears that 2004 will turn out to be a year of slight growth for the B2B magazine industry, which lagged behind the recent advertising recovery. For the year through November, ad pages were up 1.2 percent, while spending was up 3.7 percent.

"Our prediction of 2 percent to 4 pending ad revenue growth for 2004 seems to be right on target," said Gordon Hughes, president/CEO of American Business Media, in a statement. "In 2005, we are expecting to see 3 percent to 4 percent growth once again." The growth in pages seen in November was well-balanced--with just one category, services, direct response, and classified, exhibiting a decline; it slipped by 4.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the automotive (+10.8 percent), finance, business, and advertising (+10.2 percent), travel (+9 percent), and home and building (+8.2 percent) categories each displayed healthy gains.

Similarly, ad revenue was up in all but one category (again, services, direct response, and classified). Automotive posted a whopping 16.7 percent jump, while finance, business, and advertising also enjoyed robust growth, climbing by 14.5 percent.