There was a relatively strong increase in advertising spending in the United States during the third quarter, according to data to be released on Wednesday morning by Nielsen.
Ad spending rose 7 percent compared with the same quarter a year ago, Nielsen reported, stoked by advertising related to the Summer Olympics and political campaigns.
That gain is nearly three times the increase that Nielsen reported for the second quarter — 2.4 percent — when compared with the same period of 2011.
For the first three quarters, Nielsen reported, United States ad spending rose 2.5 percent from the same period last year.
The third quarter is traditionally a busy one for automakers and their dealers, spending money to promote clearance sales at the end of the model year.The third quarter of 2012 was no exception, according to Nielsen.
Ad spending by the automakers rose 26 percent compared with the year-earlier period, Nielsen said, and ad spending by auto dealers rose 22 percent.
The automakers spent the most in dollars in the quarter, Nielsen said, at $2.7 billion, followed by fast-food restaurants, up 14 percent to $1 billion, and auto dealers, also at $1 billion. Wireless providers were next, at $887.3 million, up 15 percent.
There were large declines in spending in two big categories, according to Nielsen: movies, down 12 percent to $689.7 million, and pharmaceuticals, down 22 percent to $661.7 million.
There was a small decline in a third big category, Nielsen reported: department stores, down 1 percent to $772.8 million.
The Nielsen data is based on ad spending in 17 types of media in seven categories: television, magazines, newspapers, radio, outdoor ads, coupon inserts and national Internet display ads.