• by Joe Mandese , Today

Following months of decelerating expansion, the U.S. ad market experienced its first year-over-year decline in more than two years in July.

U.S. ad spending declined 5.6% in July, according to just-updated data from Guideline's U.S. Ad Market Tracker.

That is the first monthly decline since March 2023, which fell 5.5% from the prior year, and was the last month of a protracted, post-pandemic U.S. ad recession.

That said, July compares with a prior year that included some incremental ad spending attributable to six days of NBC's coverage of the Paris Olympic Games, as well as record political media buys related to the U.S. presidential election, including the Republican National Convention.

The impact of those comparisons was most evident in the national TV tab below, which shows ad spending in the medium plummeting 22% from July 2024.

Conversely, digital ad spending actually rose more than 6% year-over-year in July, and recorded what might be its biggest share gain over "traditional media" to date: a 78% share of total U.S. ad spending, according to Guideline's data.