WPP’s GroupM ad buying agency is lopping even more points off its already dreary March advertising predictions, and now reckons 2009 UK ad sales will be 14 percent down from last year. Amongst the depressing highlights…

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—“Thanks to recession and internet substitution, we think print classifieds will raise £718 million in 2009, a 40 percent drop from 2008 and 60 percent lower than its £1.817 billion peak in 2004.”

—Newspapers will lose 26 percent of their ad sales (more than the 20 percent forecast earlier).

—Consumer magazines will lose 20 percent (revised down from 16 percent).

GroupM reiterated hopes for a recovery in 2010 and allowed itself to indulge in some wishful thinking: “Another wild card which could potentially accelerate advertising recovery, as it has in the past, is advertisers anticipating consumer recovery by returning en masse to the media market.” Via Reuters. Don’t get too hopeful - GroupM’s 2009 UK ad forecasts have been under continual revision, from a six percent drop in December, to 11 percent in March and now 14 percent.