Advertising spend in France and Germany went up in the past decade and will continue to do so until 2010, says the World Association of Newspapers (via Didier Durand).

Sounds like a bright future awaits the media industry! Even newspapers should see their ad spend remain constant across 2008-2010.

Now, when you look at the big picture, the growth witnessed in advertising isn’t nearly as impressive. Advertising as a share of GDP has actually decreased between 1998 and 2007.

That means that either:

• Fast-growing sectors (banks, energy companies) don’t advertise in proportion of their growth
• Companies advertise less as other means of publicity provide higher returns (PR, direct marketing, viral communication)
• The increase in advertising inventory pushes prices down

Do you have another explanation?