Display ads in the Internet space are always an area of lively discussion. Do they work? How should their effectiveness be measured? What is the real value of a display ad? You can insert your question here.

One tried and true measurement for the medium though is just how much is being spent on display ads especially when held up against historical numbers. A press release about a report from Kantar Media and shared with us by TechCrunch shows that the world of display ads vs. it’s competition is doing alright overall.

The curious number is why there was a slip in the 4th quarter spending because it is the biggest buying season in every year no matter how far the economy has slid down the crapper. Maybe there was a shift to more search at that point? I don’t know.

This next chart though takes an interesting look at particular sectors and their overall advertising spend.

Looking at the only sectors of this report to show an uptick in spending, I would have to conclude that during bad economic times people talk on the phone while taking alternate mouthfuls of Doritos, Milk Duds and Prozac. That last bit of data was extremely unscientific in its analysis but I stand by the observation nonetheless.

So now, that we have an idea of what has happened what do you think will happen with the rest of advertising for the year? Will this year see a rebound? Will traditional channels continue to decline? Where will the display ad number be for 2010? Let’s hear it.