While newspapers believe that Google, Yahoo's Overture, and other sponsored search companies pose a threat to traditional advertising models, they also feel that these companies represent an
opportunity, according to a new study by local advertising firm Krasilovsky Consulting and Borrell Associates, Inc. At the same time, newspapers feel they are being both opportunistic and defensive in
meeting the threat, the survey of 27 newspaper Web site- and corporate executives said. Respondents, on average, indicated that the threat posed by sponsored search companies was a "3.5" on a scale of
1-5, with "1" being "no threat," and "5" being an "absolute threat."
