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Advertising spending for 2007 increased 0.6 percent compared to 2006, with Internet advertising leading the way, up 18.9 percent more than any other media category according to Nielsen.

Along with Internet advertising, other media categories that saw an in increase in 2007 were National Magazines (7.6%), Outdoor (7.2%), National Sunday Supplements (4.9%), National Cable TV (2.2%), and Spanish-Language TV (1.5%).

"Several traditional media outlets are demonstrating resilience and strong growth in an overall softening economy, with Outdoor continuing a five-year steady climb in advertising spending," said Annie Touliatos, Director, Product Development and Marketing, Nielsen Monitor-Plus.

Newspapers have shown a steady decline in year-over-year advertising growth in the U.S., while all other countries measured by Nielsen saw growth for this media category. Local newspapers advertising was down 7.5 percent and national newspaper decreased 7.7 percent.

Advertising spending across monitored media for the top 10 companies in 2007 reached 17.9 billion, down an average of 4 percent from 2006. Seven out of the ten advertisers decreased their budgets. The three companies that increased their spending were Procter & Gamble, Verizon Communications (+ 6% each), and AT&T (+ 2%). Procter & Gamble, the largest advertiser and also the advertiser with the largest increase in budget (+205 million) increased spending for a number of brands.

In contrast, General Motors has the largest advertising spending decline in terms of dollars (- $267 million), followed by Time Warner Inc. (- $232 million).