All told, the U.S. business press has lost about 300,000 ad pages since the B-to-B ad recession began in 2001 and shows no immediate sign of abating, according to a MediaDailyNews analysis of estimates from the ABM's Business Information Network database.
The ABM also reported a 2.6 percent decline in B-to-B ad revenues for March., putting the year-to-date revenue base into the red at -0.8 percent.
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"We believe that the numbers will be stronger in the second quarter," stated Gordon Hughes, president and CEO of ABM, cautioning that "most of the growth for 2004 will take place in the second half of the year."
Only one of the major ad categories tracked by the ABM -- services, direct response & classified - recorded an ad page increase (+3.2%) in March. All other categories were down, some significantly, including: retail (-18.0%); manufacturing (-12.1%); software (-10.8%); and automotive (-9.4%).
B-to-B Ad Pages, Revenue
Ad Pages Ad Dollars
January -4.6%
+2.4%
February -0.9% +0.2%
March -5.5% -2.6%
Year-to-Date -4.6% -0.8%
Source: American Business Media from the Business Information Network database. As of January 2004 estimates are derived from IMS/The Auditor.