• by Joe Mandese , 6 hours ago

U.S. ad-spending growth continued to decelerate in May -- expanding just 0.7% vs. May 2025 -- the worst month since year-over-year Olympic spending comps in July and August 2025, according to just-refreshed estimates from Guideline's U.S. Ad Market Tracker.

The new data also continues to support the emergence of a K-shaped advertising economy, with the top 10 ad categories accounting for all the growth, while all other ad categories continue to decline in aggregate ad spending once again in May (see chart below).

May's slowdown comes even as local political ad spending has been ratcheting up in many markets heading into the midterm elections, but it also reflects the lack of incremental major events, sandwiched between February's Winter Olympics coverage and this month's World Cup and NBA finals coverage, which should help stimulate the June advertising marketplace in next month's index.