SMI: Ad Market Ends on a Sluggish Note in 2014, Following Hopeful First Half

Standard Media Index has just released its full-year ad market figures and the results confirm what advertisers, agencies and media owners have been feeling for some time now. The euphoria, and big dollars, generated by the Winter Olympic Games and FIFA World Cup earlier in the year quickly dried up as consumer confidence fizzled. Then there was the economy stuck in neutral for most of 2014, which delivered a somber second half to the year and turned out sluggish ad revenue numbers across almost every media sector.