Overview[]
The advertising industry is a major sector of the U.S. economy, employing hundreds of thousands of workers and accounting for about 2% of the nation's annual output, according to some estimates. The advertising industry is in the midst of a fundamental restructuring, however. The deep recession has depressed ad spending. At the same time, the industry faces longer-term challenges as consumers migrate from traditional media to digital platforms such as websites, cell phones, mobile e-readers, and gaming networks.