Report: Online advertising slump is finally here

04.05.2009
TechCrunch writer Erick Schonfeld has run the numbers, and finds that the first quarter of 2009 finally brought Web advertising's first decline in recent history.

Ad buys have been slowing for months, but according to TechCrunch's chart, global Q1 revenue actually dropped two percent. Schonfeld says the bright spot, or perhaps the least dark, is Google:

TechCrunch has and an explanation of methodology. It will be interesting to see how TechCrunch's numbers measure up against Internet Advertising Bureau data, once the IAB gets around to releasing its first quarter report.