Borrell revises local ad spending forecast

This is no surprise, but still painful. Borrell Associates has scaled back its local online spending forecast for 2008 and 2009. Local businesses will spend $11.9 billion in online advertising this year, down from $13.1 billion. And in 2009, businesses are expected to spend $13.6 billion, down from $18.2 billion. “We are going to see this (lower growth) for a few years,” says Peter Conti, a senior vice president at Borrell.