edia buying group, Aegis, UK said that recovery in advertising was now a worldwide phenomenon. The group raised its forecasts for advertising spends for this year and the next. It said its Carat unit, the biggest media buying network in Europe, expects ad spend to grow by 5.7 per cent this year, compared with an earlier prediction of 5.3 per cent. In 2005, it expects 5 per cent growth, against the 4.4 per cent it had previously suggested.

It said the upward revision was "mainly attributable to continued improvements both in Europe, which is now in solid recovery, and the United States". Ad spend is expected to climb 5.8 per cent and 4.8 per cent in 2004 and 2005 respectively in the US. ... more