According to Kantar Media, US PPC advertising was 6.4% lower in Q4 2011 than one year prior. The drop in online advertising may be attributed in a large part to a drop in spending among financial, insurance and local service advertisers in the US, the report says.
Display advertising also decreased by an amount of 5.9% in Q4 as well. This drop can be attributed to a decrease in spending with automotive companies, telecom providers and travel companies.
As a whole, paid search declined 2.8% but display increased 5.5% in 2011.