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Newspaper Online Advertising Surges 21% in Q3, Print Ads Down 7% »
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Newspaper Online Advertising Surges 21% in Q3, Print Ads Down 7%

Advertising expenditures for newspaper websites increased 21.1%, to $773 million, in the third quarter compared with the year-earlier period, according to preliminary estimates from the Newspaper Association of America (NAA).

The increase was the 14th consecutive quarter of double-digit growth for online newspaper advertising since NAA started reporting online ad spending in 2004, NAA said.

Newspaper website advertising now accounts for 7.1% of total newspaper ad spending, compared with 5.4% in the third quarter of 2006, according to the estimates.

Total advertising expenditures at newspaper companies were $10.9 billion for the third quarter of 2007, a 7.4% decrease from the same period a year earlier.

Spending for print ads in newspapers totaled $10.1 billion, down 9% compared with the third quarter of 2006.

Among the major print components in the third quarter, classified advertising fell 17% to $3.4 billion. Retail declined 4.9% to $5.1 billion, and national was down 2.5%, coming in at $1.7 billion.

Within the classified print category in the third quarter, real estate advertising fell 24.4% to $1 billion. Recruitment dropped 19.7% to $882.4 million. Automotive was down 17.7% to $796.6 million. All other classifieds were up 2.7% to $713.3 million.

“Newspaper websites continue to generate substantial revenue by offering advertisers access to the nation’s most desirable group of consumers,” said NAA President and CEO John F. Sturm. “At the same time, broader economic issues are impacting our industry the same way they are impacting other media - the continued fallout from declines in the housing market clearly affects real estate, recruitment and retail advertising.”