MUMBAI: Well, looks as if the 360 degrees mantra hasn't really filtered down the hierarchy of advertisers and ad agencies in the US. If it had, it would be positively impacted the hoarding and outdoor ad spends.

After falling less than one percent in 2001, outdoor advertising revenues grew marginally in calendar year 2002, up 0.8 percent to $5.2 billion, according to the Outdoor Advertising Association of America.

The information released by the association claims that local services and amusements continued to be the industry's most important category, accounting for 13.3 per cent of revenues. This is a growth of six per cent as compared to the previous year.

Public transportation, hotels and resorts category was placed second although it fell 7.3 per cent in revenues. Despite this fall, the category still made up 10.4 per cent of the industry total. The financial category, which grew 19.7 per cent, represented 6.3 per cent of the total.

Despite the presence of a booming auto market, the biggest reduction was witnessed in the category of automotive, auto accessories and equipment, which shrank nine per cent but still accounted for 4.4 per cent of overall revenues.