Economic Realities Knock Advertising for a Loop

ZenithOptimedia today lowered its forecast for advertising growth both in the US and worldwide.

Zenith, whose forecasts are closely followed by the industry, said it expects ad spending in the U.S. to grow just 1.6% this year and by less than 1% in 2009. In June, the ad-buying firm, a unit of Publicis Groupe, predicted growth of 3.4% and 2.6%, respectively, for this year and next.

World-wide, Zenith says it now expects ad spending to grow 4.3% to $506.3 billion this year and 4% in 2009. In June it predicted 6.6% growth for 2008 and 6% growth for 2009.