It’s become a fun tradition to wait for the Magazine Publishers of America’s ad pages report to come out every three months. It’s like Christmas morning: there’s hardly ever any surprises, and you end up realizing again how wasteful paper is. This quarter’s report isn’t much different. The MPA tried to spin it brightly:

“First quarter softness in ad categories like Automotive and Home Furnishings & Supplies indicate that the down economy has affected ad spending in magazines. However, we’re pleased to see the strength in some categories, particularly Food & Food Products, in the face of economic uncertainty.”

The NY Post, however, is less optimisitic:

Magazines that cover news, business and luxury goods were sent reeling in the first quarter of the year, while food magazines offered a few rays of light for the publishing industry, according to just released figures.

The MPA numbers don’t lie. While the double-digit growth in Food & Food Products must be gratifying, it’s a just a section of a rapidly falling industry. Technology was down in ad pages by 16.3 percent, Financial, Real Estate, and Insurance down by 5.5 percent, and even industry leader Drugs & Remedies was down 4.3 percent. Within individual magazines, the biggest gainers in ad pages were grocery store aisle cheapo Remedy, up 96.1 percent, followed by Hispanic parenting magazine Ser Padres at 81.5 percent. The biggest losers were National Geographic Kids, which plunged 49.2 percent, followed by Scientific American, which lost 45.5 percent of its ad pages.

Meanwhile, I’d be remiss to not point out that right here, right now in San Francisco the ad:tech conference is taking place, full of ideas about what firms and clients can do with that cash they’re oh-so-rapidly taking away from magazines.

(Image taken from flickr user shortfatkid, CC 2.0)