• by Erik Sass , July 24, 2009

Confirming what many already suspected, a recent poll from LinkedIn's Research Network and Harris Interactive found that advertisers are spending less ad dollars on print newspapers in favor of online. The poll results are a dagger in the heart of America's beleaguered newspaper publishers.

The LinkedIn-Harris poll of 1,015 top executives at ad agencies and their corporate clients from June 22-June 30 found that while the number of advertisers using print and online are still roughly equal -- 88% and 92%, respectively -- the trend lines for the two media are headed in opposite directions.

Some 74% of advertisers that use Internet say they are using it more than they did one year ago, while 49% of advertisers that use print say they are using it less. Another 41% of advertisers that use print say their spending has remained steady with a year ago.

On the upside, 54% of advertisers that spend money online do so as part of a broader, multimedia campaign strategy, versus just 14% that only advertise online. The poll also had some good news for mobile advertising, which has struggled to find its footing in the U.S. market: 69% of advertisers that employ mobile advertising say they are using it more than they did a year ago, suggesting the medium has proven itself -- at least to marketers willing to try it.

Radio and TV are roughly even, according to the LinkedIn-Harris Poll, with the proportion of advertisers that use radio and/or TV exactly even at 46%. Both are also experiencing slippage, although not as much as print.

Among advertisers using radio, 46% say they are using it the same amount as last year, and 43% say they are using it less. Also, 48% of advertisers that use TV say their spending is even with last year, versus 38% that say they are spending less. Harris also found evidence of significant regional differences.

In the South, 57% of advertisers say they use radio, and 56% say they use TV, versus just 39% for each medium in the West.

The erosion of print media is bad news for newspapers, which have seen total print advertising revenues tumble from $10.5 billion in the first quarter of 2006 to $5.9 billion in the first quarter of 2009 -- the most recent data available from the Newspaper Association of America.

While conventional wisdom holds that newspapers are losing print ad dollars to the Internet, polls like the LinkedIn-Harris survey provide empirical evidence to prove it.