Data from the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PriceWaterhouseCoopers indicates a five-per-cent decline year-over-year in online advertising in the first quarter of 2009.
That marks the first such decline since 2002.
The $5.48 billion in spending was down from $5.72 billion in the first quarter of 2008, but industry experts believe the setback is temporary and owing to the recession. While legacy media advertising declines are far steeper in the U.S., the online downturn is relatively mild.
