• by Masha Geller , May 19, 2002

I think it’s safe to say that the recession is officially over, at least in the offline ad world. Advertising for Q1 2002 shows an increase of 1.8% over the same period in 2001, according to preliminary figures just released by Nielsen Monitor-Plus.

The automotive category led the way with the largest dollar increases ($170 million), while the beer and motion picture categories saw the greatest increases, 37% and 35%, respectively. Q1 2002 spending for the top ten categories was $6.2 billion dollars, 16% greater than the same period last year.

Four of the eight reported media experienced increases in advertising activity with Network TV showing the greatest gain of 9%. However, Nielsen says that it is important to remember that the 2002 Winter Olympics were held in February which somewhat distorts any comparison to the prior year.

Nevertheless, the networks did experience growth. Spot Radio and Spot TV also showed gains and National Cable was up slightly.

Unfortunately, national magazines and syndicated television continued to decline. FSI Coupons for the packaged goods industry experienced the greatest loss in advertising revenue, -27%.

The report did not cover the Internet. We’ll have to wait for Nielsen’s online divisions to report those figures, which will hopefully show an increase as well. The troubling news is that AOL is planning to lay off approximately 100 of the 725 employees (about 14%) in its interactive-marketing department this week. What does that mean in the grand scheme of online ad things? We’ll find out soon enough.