Yet more research out today shows UK digital ad spend’s growth is slowing - despite its overall share of the media pie continuing to grow. In fact, IPA’s Bellwether found growth was not just slower but flat during Q3 - far behind previous quarters and the weakest growth in seven years.

Could be worse; you could be in print or broadcast - overall ad spend across media other than the internet was down a hefty 20 percent (and would’ve been 27 percent were it not shored up by the web). Everyone in traditional media saw their ad downturn coming - what’s taking by surprise some, who had continued faith in the web ads boom of recent years, is to see that phenomenon slow down like this, after years of advances. Still, the internet is still holding up as the strongest advertising medium, a slowdown in growth is more comforting than out-and-out decline, and the pace of that slowdown is disputed...

—Enders Analysis recently cut its forecast for 2008 ad spend from £3.56 billion to £3.33 billion and warned of a growth slowdown.

—But the IAB Internet Advertising Bureau last week said web ad spend grew 21 percent in H108 to £1.68 billion, increasing digital’s market share of total advertising to 18.7 percent – only 0.6 percent behind print display advertising and three percent behind TV.

—WARC confidently predicted the “internet will continue to grow throughout the downturn”. Publishers like the Financial Times’s Rob Grimshaw agreed and declared that “the web should be pretty buoyant” in the next three to five years despite the downturn.

The outlook continues to be less auspicious for regional newspapers: Reuters reports that on Friday UBS cuts its newspaper advertising growth forecast to minus 15 percent from minus 12 percent for 2008 and to minus 10 percent from minus six percent for 2009. The broker raised its target share price for Daily Mail (LSE: DMGT) and General Trust (LSE:DMGT) from 330p to 350p, but DMGT is merely its preferred publisher in the sector thanks to its profitable national papers and B2B division. UBS also cuts its earnings per share estimates for Johnson Press (LSE:JPR) from 50p to 40p and Trinity Mirror (LSE: TNI) (LSE:TNI) from 70p to 60p.

• Economy Now Hitting Even Web Ad Spend - But How Bad Is It?
• UK Net Will Weather Ad Storm, Except In Financial Services: Forecast
• Online Ad Spend Exceeds Expectations, Rises 21 Percent In H108: IAB UK
• Interview: Rob Grimshaw, MD, FT.com: New Niches, Pinker Pages, No More Subscribers