Vienna, Va. – Advertising expenditures at newspapers and their Web sites totaled $14.3 billion for the fourth quarter of 2005, a 1.4 percent over the same period a year earlier, according to preliminary estimates from the Newspaper Association of America. Spending for print ads in newspapers totaled $13.7 billion, up 0.4 percent versus the same period a year earlier, while ad spending online continued its double-digit growth in the fourth quarter, increasing by 32.5 percent from the same period a year ago to $552 million. For the full year, ad spending on newspaper Web sites jumped 31.5 percent, reaching a new record of $2.0 billion. “Despite a challenging year for advertising overall, ad spending on newspaper Web sites were extremely strong, and newspapers enter 2006 aggressively taking steps to build audience across online and offline platforms,” said NAA President and CEO John Sturm. “Not only have newspaper Web sites captured a large and growing audience, but these ad spending estimates for 2005 demonstrate that newspapers are successfully monetizing the value of their Internet investments, leveraging online advertising opportunities and building consumer loyalties on the Web. This is our seventh consecutive quarter of (double digit) online ad spending increases, and we expect this upward trend to continue as more publishers solidify their leadership positions online with innovations and brand extensions that appeal to their audiences.” Among the major print components in the fourth quarter, classified advertising led the way with a total classified spending increase of 3 percent to $5.2 billion. Retail was down 1.3 percent to $6.4 billion and national was down 0.53 percent, coming in at $2.1 billion. Within the classified print category in the fourth quarter, real estate advertising jumped more than 16 percent to $1.5 billion. Recruitment increased 8.5 percent to $1.5 billion. Automotive was down 16 percent to $1.3 billion. All other classifieds were up 9 percent to $954 million. For the full year, ad spending in printed weekday and Sunday newspapers and online increased 2.5 percent to $49.4 billion. Classified ad spending in print increased 4.2 percent to $17.3 billion and print retail was up 0.8 percent to $22.2 billion. National dipped 2.1 percent to $7.9 billion.