• April 4, 2005

Spending on local online advertising grew to $2.7 billion in 2004, a 28% over 2003, according to estimates released Monday morning by Borrell Associates. The report, "What Local Web Sites Earn: 2005 Survey," projects that number will "mushroom" 46 percent to $3.9 billion in 2005. The survey, which covers the Web sites of 2,177 local media properties, found that newspapers, TV stations, radio stations and Yellow Pages accounted for nearly half of local online ad spending. Newspapers, in 2004 grew their online operations to a $1.19 billion industry segment, saw roughly 3% of their company revenues coming from Internet advertising but those same operations represented as much as 45% of an individual company's advertising growth. Radio and TV stations have begun to sit up and pay attention, too. TV stations grew their Internet ad revenues 58.7% in 2004, to $119 million. Radio stations grew theirs nearly twofold, to $34 million.