• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, June 5, 2006

Online ad revenue at newspapers grew to $613 million in the first quarter--representing a 34.9 percent jump from the first quarter of 2005, according to a new report by the Newspaper Association of America.

The online increase marked the eighth consecutive quarter of growth, according to the organization. Last year, online ad revenue totaled $2.027, marking a growth of 31.48 percent from 2004.

Expenditures on print ads, by contrast, remained flat in the first quarter. Print ad revenues came to $10.5 billion, up .3 percent from the same time last year.

Overall, print and online ad revenues combined totaled $11.1 billion--reflecting an anemic year-over-year growth of 1.8 percent.

Within the print category, retail represented the largest chunk of revenues at $4.8 billion, but this figure was down 1 percent from last year. Classified print ads rose 4.7 percent to $3.8 billion, while national advertising declined by 4.8 percent to $1.7 billion.

The NAA doesn't break down Web spending by category--but other analysts, including Merrill Lynch and Borrell Associates, have said that classified ads make up the bulk of newspapers' online ad revenues.

Print classifieds in the real estate category grew to $1.1 billion--26.3 percent more than last year. Recruitment ads also grew to $1.1 billion, marking a 2.3 percent increase. Auto ads, however, fell to $940 million--a drop of 14.5 percent. Classifieds in other categories increased 11.9 percent to $702 million.