U.S. ad spending has been losing momentum along with the general economy. Of course it's a giant chicken-or-egg question to some extent, but it's axiomatic: As consumers continue to lose confidence in the present and future course of the economy, brand marketers are more apt to go along with their more cautious mood by cutting ad spending — rather than trying to talk consumers out of their funk with more marketing.

So it doesn't come as a huge surprise that WPP's Kantar Media unit finds that ad spending expanded only 2.8 percent in the second quarter compared with 4.4 percent in the first quarter, when there was more hope among advertisers and consumers that a genuine U.S. economic recovery was underway.

Some of the biggest brand advertisers and categories have led the way in slowing growth of outlays, Kantar said, and they may not be finished retrenching yet. "The whole world is nervous — and nervousness usually leads to contraction, both for consumers and advertisers," Bob Jeffrey, chief executive of WPP-owned JWT, told the Wall Street Journal.Continue reading...

Consumer spending: Americans spent an average 10% more in April, versus a year ago, according to Gallup. The average daily expenditure ($66) was partially due to higher gas prices and didn't include "normal" household bills or big-ticket purchases such as cars or homes. [Mediaweek]

World Cup: Soccer fans are set to increase spending on food, drink, newspapers and betting during the FIFA World Cup. [BBC]

E-happiness: There are positive links between access to technology and feelings of well-being, a global study of 35,000 reveals. [BBC]

Mobile payments: The market's poised to soar. [GigaOm]

Tablets vs. e-readers: Half of consumers plan to buy one - once they hit $200. [VentureBeat]

Email shift: Yahoo is still #1 but losing ground to Gmail. [Silicon Alley Insider]

Web ad revenue: The first quarter saw a 7.5% increase in online ad revenue over Q1 2009, setting a quarterly record $5.9 billion but down from its peak. [IAB]

Display ads: Americans received one trillion display ads in the first quarter, when Facebook showed more display ads than Yahoo did - a first. [comScore]Continue reading...