• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, May 11, 2005

Demand for magazine ad pages, which had been beginning to build earlier this year, has suddenly gone negative once again. According to figures released Tuesday by the Publishers Information Bureau, the number of ad pages sold by consumer magazines in April declined 0.7 percent from April 2005.

April's ad page erosion follows a progression that began the year with ad pages dipping 0.4 percent in January, increasing 4.2 percent in February, and rising 1.3 percent in March. Year-to-date ad pages are up 0.8 percent.

April's dip is especially alarming, because it follows three consecutive years of soft magazine ad demand. Ad pages declined 0.6 percent in April 2004, fell 3.6 percent in April 2003 and were flat in April 2003, according to the PIB's archives. The Magazine Publishers of America, which oversees the PIB, attributed the ad page softness to weakness in selected advertising categories, noting that six of the top 12 magazine ad categories actually posted ad pages gains.

"In terms of absolute pages, the technology category has been experiencing softness for a while, exacerbated by changes in the telecom industry, while fundamental issues in the automotive and drug industries have affected their media spending," noted Ellen Oppenheim, executive vice president-chief marketing officer at the MPA.

Monthly Magazine Ad Page Growth/Decline

April: -0.7%  
March: +1.2%  
February: +4.2%  
January: -0.4%  
YTD: +0.8%  

Source: Publishers Information Bureau.