by Tatiana Repkova

Advertising expenditures for newspaper Web sites increased 22.3%, to $750 million, in the first quarter compared with the first quarter of 2006, according to preliminary estimates from the Newspaper Association of America. The increase is the 12th consecutive quarter of double-digit growth for online newspaper advertising since NAA started reporting online ad spending in 2004, the NAA said. Advertising on newspaper sites made up 7.1% of total newspaper ad spending in the first quarter, compared with 5.5% for the same period a year earlier. Overall, advertising expenditures at newspapers and their Web sites totaled $10.6 billion for the first quarter of 2007, a 4.8% decrease from the year-earlier period.