Led by a sharp 27 percent decline in spending by financial services marketers, online display ads experienced a 6 percent drop in the first nine months of 2008, according to fresh data from Nielsen Online. The declines were on par with results the data firm captured for the first half of the year. Undoubtedly, many in the space will be waiting with bated breath to see how the final quarter of 2008 looks -- after all it's when many of the gloomiest scenarios began to emerge and take hold.

During the same period, web media's spend on display ads was down 15 percent to $1.1 billion, travel fell 7 percent to $304 million, and retail goods and services dropped 4 percent to $833 million. Surprisingly, ad dollars spent in the automotive and entertainment categories jumped a dramatic 32 and 29 percent, respectively.

In light of the auto industry's rapid fall, it is doubtful car-related ad spends will continue to sustain that level of growth. However, the offline ad spend by car manufacturers dipped 8 percent in the same period, so it could very well be part of a larger shift from print and television to online. Indeed, General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner recently told Congress that the company planned to shift a large part of its remaining ad budget to digital markets to cut costs, MediaPost reports. Nonetheless, traditional media ad budgets for auto marketers still tower over their digital spend: $7.8 billion compared to $438,664 in the first nine months of the year.