Online Newspaper Ads Gaining Ground on Print

Online Newspaper Ads Gaining Ground on Print - New York Times: "According to estimates released on Friday by the Newspaper Association of America, newspaper print ad spending in the first three months of 2006 increased only 0.3 percent, to $10.5 billion, over the corresponding period last year. At the same time, spending for online advertising surged 35 percent. The numbers are still small compared with print: the first quarter of 2006 produced $613 million in online advertising, up from $454 million in the year-ago period. But it is the eighth consecutive quarter of growth for online ads, according to the association.

Last month, the Audit Bureau of Circulations released figures showing that in the six-month period that ended in March, daily circulation of American newspapers dropped 2.5 percent, to 45.5 million, over the period a year ago. Newspapers have been helped by the general growth of online advertising: according to a report issued last week by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers, total Internet advertising revenue reached a record $3.9 billion in the first three months of 2006.

On average, advertising accounts for roughly 75 to 80 percent of a newspaper's total revenue. Mr. Morton estimated that online advertising would make up 6.5 percent of newspapers' total advertising revenue in 2006, up from 5 percent last year."