Online advertising at newspaper Web sites rose 18.8% to $3.2 billion in 2007, accounting for 7.5% of all newspaper ad spending last year, compared to 5.7% in 2006, the Newspaper Association of America announced Friday.
However, while online ad spending soared, print has suffered enough to more than erase the Internet gains.
Total spending on newspaper advertising for the fourth quarter of 2007 was $12.6 billion, compared to $14 billion for the same period in 2006, the association reported.
Spending on print ads alone in the fourth quarter of 2007 was $11.7 billion, compared to $13.2 billion for the same period last year, the NAA said.
The jump in online ad spending marked the thirteenth straight quarter of double-digit growth for newspaper Internet advertising, the NAA said.
“Even with the near-term challenges posed to print media by a more fragmented information environment and the economic headwinds facing all advertising media, newspaper publishers are continuing to drive strong revenue growth from their increasingly robust Web platforms,” NAA President and CEO John F. Sturm said in a statement.