Online ad sales at U.S. newspapers dropped 3 percent to US$749.8 million in the third quarter compared to the same time last year, according to the Newspaper Association of America, the Asbury Park Press reported reported Friday. Meanwhile, print ad sales fell 19 percent – the largest quarterly drop since the NAA began tracking industry data in 1971.

Combined, online and print advertising fell to $8.94 billion, an 18 percent drop in total third quarter newspaper ad revenue, from $10.9 billion in 2007.

According to NAA data, online ads have grown every quarter since the trade association began measuring them in 2004. The first time they have not grown was in the second quarter of this year, when they dropped 2.4 percent, the Asbury Park Press reported.

Ad revenue declines, together with increasing newsprint costs and readers leaving print in favour of online have forced newspaper publishers across the United States to cut expenses this year. For example, McClatchy Co., which publishes newspapers across the country, including the Miami Herald, has made two rounds of job cuts, axing 10 percent of staff each time. Companies cutting their dividends include McClatchy, New York Times Co., A.H. Belo Corp., GateHouse Media Inc. and Media General, according to the Asbury Park Press.