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With all the fuss over Facebook's traffic, people aren't paying attention to the stat that really matters: Advertising spending. Spending by the 10 largest online advertisers is down, Silicon Alley insider notes. The first half of the year was a record-setter for online ads, with $10 billion sold in the U.S., but the fourth quarter could get ugly. Mortgage ads, the annoyingly dancing mainstay of many sites, have been dropping faster than Countrywide's stock price. Retailers, too, are feeling the pinch. A real drop in ad spending could halt Google's runaway hiring, Yahoo and AOL's turnarounds, and Microsoft's fumbling attempts to get in the game. All of which serves as a reminder: Follow the money. That's the only metric that ultimately counts. (Photo courtesy of avlxyz)