In an article published in
OnlineMediaDaily on October 9th titled "Companies Slash Web Marketing Budgets," a report from Blackfriars Communications was cited as saying that total U.S. ad
budgets fell from about $245 billion in 2005 to $218 billion in 2006. Both numbers are based on quarterly surveys of 317 executives, asking them about their intended spending and actual spending, and
vary from other estimates. An example of a lower figure for total ad spend comes from TNS Media Intelligence, which in June forecast 2006 ad spending at $150.3 billion, a 4.9 percent increase over
2005. By contrast, Universal McCann guru Robert Coen has arrived at an estimate of $286.4 billion for 2006, describing this as 5.6 percent growth over last year. The inclusion of some activities
usually considered "marketing," as well as inflated estimates from some respondents, may account for variance in these figures.
