According to the latest Bellwether Report, published by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, 19.5% had revised budgets downwards over the past quarter, while 16.1% had increased theirs, with the rest staying the same.
This compares with the previous four quarters, in which there were significantly more advertisers cutting budgets.
While the news in itself is not stellar, it is a sign that the much predicted advertising recovery of 2004 could be on its way.
Stephen Woodford, president of the IPA, said: "We are very encouraged by this report especially since the previous two years' third-quarter results seemed to suggest that we should probably expect a severe adjustment downwards as companies prepare their figures for year end."
In further good news for the industry, the Advertising Association has published figures for long-term growth, forecasting a rise of up to 47% in adspend over the next decade. It says that the 47% figure is based on the absence of any major threats to advertising, but even at the lowest prediction adspend will still rise by 16%.
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