Ad spending in 2005 is trailing GDP growth - "unusual this late into an economic expansion," according to Merrill Lynch - reportsEditor & publisher (via MediaBuyerPlanner). Excluding direct mail, the research firm estimates 3.3 percent ad growth for 2005. Among the reasons, companies are probably spending in areas such as product placement and viral marketing that are not captured by ad spending estimates.

"As the competitive battle moves online, newspapers will likely find it hard to scale, and even as they successfully defend their local market share, the economic repercussions of the shift online are still likely to take their toll," the report concluded.