Newspaper websites saw ad spending rise 21.1 percent to $773 million in Q3 versus the same period last year, according to estimates from the Newspaper Association of America. While online ad spending has been slowing down in general, newspaper website ad spend gains appear relatively stable. As the NAA noted in Q306, the category’s growth was 23 percent; viewed sequentially, numbers this quarter are up, as Q2 growth came in 19 percent year-over-year. Advertising on newspaper websites now accounts for 7.1 percent of total newspaper ad spending, compared to 5.4 percent in Q3. Still, the NAA is only able to offer a general picture of newspapers’ website advertising, as it doesn’t break out online classified or other web-related segments.

Nevertheless, the NAA’s number do offer some context for a bright spot within a struggling industry, noting that total Q3 ad revenues at newspaper companies fell 7.4 percent to $10.9 billion. Meanwhile, print classified ads were down across the board for real estate (-24.4 percent), jobs (-19.7 percent) and autos (-17.7 percent). Release

• Print Circ Continues Overall Decline; Audience-FAX Launches To Track Combined Print/Online Reach
• NAA Finds Online Newspaper Readership Rises 3.7 Percent In Q3