The contraction in the Turkish economy in 2009 affected the ad market adversely. Turkish ad market contracted by 14% in 2009 and amounted to TL 2,971 million (USD 1,921 million), compared to TL 3,440 million (USD 2,650 million) in 2008.

TV’s and newspapers remained as the most preferred advertising segments in 2009 as well. In fact, TV and newspaper advertising made almost 75% of the total ad spending in Turkey in 2009.

Ad revenues in TV segment is estimated to have declined by 16% in 2009 to amount to TL 1.4 billion (USD 0.9 billion), compared to TL 1.7 billion (USD 1.3 billion) the previous year. The newspaper advertising, on the other hand, fell to TL 811 million (USD 524 million) in 2009, from TL 986 million (USD 760 million) in 2008, which represents a decline of 18%.

Internet has been once again the fastest growing ad segment in 2009. Internet ad revenues, is estimated to have increased by 23% in 2009 and to have reached TL 317 million (USD 205 million). Hence, the share of internet advertising in total ad spending rose to 10.7% in 2009, up from 7.5% a year ago. Internet revenue includes estimated banner, classified and search engine ad revenue and excludes shopping and tourism websites.

Ad revenue of Hürriyet newspaper was also affected from the economic contraction and the resulting decline in ad spending. Hence, Hürriyet newspaper’s ad revenue declined by 20.9% in 2009 compared to the previous year and amounted to TL 301.3 million. Hürriyet remained as the market leader in newspaper advertising in 2009 as well.

Hürriyet was once again the most preffered newspaper for the advertisers and sustained its leadership in many segments such as classifieds, human resources, education, construction, automotive, retail, textile, tourism, entertainment, finance, culture and arts, social ads, insert distribution. Through its supplements, Hürriyet maintained its competitive advantage in many regions and areas in 2009.