Advertising will see a rebound in 2010, but it will be a wimpy one

First the good news: worldwide advertising spending is expected to increase in 2010. The bad news is, the increase forecast by media agency Carat and Magna Global is pretty anemic.

Spending on magazine ads, TV spots and other forms of advertising is expected to inch up just 0.7 percent next year, according to Carat. If that turns out to be the case, it will still be a vast improvement over the 5.8 percent decline this year. Magna Global's Brian Wieser also sees a wimpy comeback for advertising, with spending rising at a compound annual growth rate of 0.9 percent between 2009 and 2014.