• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, July 25, 2013

Spending on online display advertising rose 26.3% globally in the first quarter from a year ago with strong gains, particularly in Latin America and Asia-Pacific. Still, the Internet garnered just 4.4% of total ad spending in the quarter, according to Nielsen’s latest AdView Pulse report.

Television again claimed the lion’s share of ad dollars, with 59% -- up 3.5% overall despite a 2.9% dip in Europe. Spending on print advertising continued to erode, with budget allocated to newspapers and magazines down 4.7% and 2.8%, respectively, in the quarter. Together, however, those categories still hold 30% media share.

Other traditional ad segments also saw declines. Radio ad spending dipped 0.2%, and cinema 5.8%, although outdoor climbed 4.3% for a 3.3% share of overall spending.

“We see trends continuing in media, with less steep ad spend increases in TV and very slight declines in print, making way for growth in the digital space. Although these changes in traditional media are slight, it’s worth noting how the placement of ad dollars is shifting over time,” said Randall Beard, global head, advertiser solutions for Nielsen, in a Thursday blog post.

Internet display ad spending was up just 2.9% in North America -- but surged 48.2% in Latin America, and 35.2% in Asia-Pacific in the first quarter compared to the year-earlier period. The Interactive Advertising Bureau in June reported that overall U.S. Internet ad spending increased nearly 16% to $9.6 billion.

Nielsen says it bases its global ad estimates mainly on published rate cards. It also includes data from sources in individual countries, such as IBOPE in Argentina, Yacast in France and PARC (Pan Arab Research Center) in Saudi Arabia.