Modest overall U.S. Q1 magazine ad page growth led by zooming shelter titles

Up 80.6% in ad pages

An encouraging trend in the U.S. is that two of the top five gainers in terms of advertising pages are in the shelter category, hard hit by the recent recession. According to data published by min online, Architectural Digest had an 80.6% increase in March compared with a year ago, buoyed by the recovery of luxury and housing markets. And Elle Decor was up 39.9%. Others in the top 5: People StyleWatch  (up 75% in March and 50% in the first quarter); Seventeen up 66% and with the biggest issue in three years; and Texas Monthly, up 43%. Over all, min's data showed a modest growth of 1.15% in the first quarter, the first since 2007.