• by Wayne Friedman , November 8, 2012

Although the global advertising business has been primarily "cautious" in the current economy, it is not universal when it comes to all major advertising categories.

Nielsen Global AdView Pulse says for the first half of 2012, telecommunications lifted spending by 7.9% -- the biggest category gain -- with the largest pushes in Latin America, up 32.5%, and the Middle East & Africa, 28.3% higher.

Automotive advertising is also climbing steadily -- right behind telecommunications -- with a 6.3% improvement. Nielsen says even with the troubled Western Europe economies, automotive spending has inched up 1.4% in the first six months of 2012 versus 2011.

Entertainment was next at a 5.0% increase, followed by media, up 4.9%; distribution channels, 4.9%; financial, up 4.5%; and clothing and accessories, up 2.8%.

Losing ground in global ad spending was health care, down 1.2%, industry and services, 1.4% lower; and durables, a 4.4% drop.

Overall, Nielsen says advertisers continue to spend "cautiously" with budgets up 2.7% to $266 billion. Specific territories show that North America was 2.4% higher, helped by growth advertising in the "industry and services" category as well as higher political advertising.

As expected, Europe -- with a number of economies still in trouble -- has seen a 2.7% drop in advertising spending.

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