Advertising expenditures for newspaper websites in the United States increased by 18.8 per cent to $3.2 billion in 2007, according to preliminary estimates from the Newspaper Association of America (NAA). Spending on newspaper websites has now grown to account for 7.5 per cent of all newspaper ad spending last year (up from 5.7 per cent in 2006).
For last year’s fourth quarter, advertising expenditures for newspaper websites increased by 13.6 per cent to $847 million versus the same period a year ago, marking the thirteenth consecutive quarter of double digit growth for online newspaper advertising since NAA started reporting online ad spending in 2004.
“Even with the near-term challenges posed to print media by a more fragmented information environment and the economic headwinds facing all advertising media, publishers are continuing to drive strong revenue growth from their increasingly robust Web platforms,” NAA President and CEO John F Sturm said.
“We believe the underlying attraction of newspapers — providing the highest quality news and information — is only enhanced as readers engage with our products on multiple platforms, like election year political coverage, commentary and blogging in print and on the Web. These results back up that belief while also demonstrating that the medium is continuing to aggressively position itself for the future,” Sturm said in a statement.
Advertising expenditures at newspapers and their websites totalled $12.6 billion for the fourth quarter of 2007, while spending for print ads in newspapers totalled $11.7 billion. That compared with total advertising expenditures of $14 billion and print ad spending of $13.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2006.
