WebProNews

The dollar gap between U.S. local online spending and total local media ad spending is large with $97 billion going to offline media such as yellow pages and newspapers. Only 2.9 percent of all local ad spending will go online in 2007, or $2.9 billion.

Local Online Advertising To Reach $7.8 Billion

The pressure to put more local dollars online is building, according to eMarketer's report "Local Online Advertising: Measuring the Market." As more people are going online to locate a business instead of using a phonebook, U.S. small and midsize businesses are likely to follow.

"As audiences continue migrating to the Web and away from traditional local media such as newspapers and radio, it's only a matter of time before online local ad spend catches up with today's reality," says David Hallerman, senior analyst and author of the report.

 Because of this, through 2011, spending for local online advertising will grow at a faster rate than either national advertising or total online advertising, according to the report. This growth will create greater competition from portals, search engines, newspapers, TV stations and local directory listings.

Local and national businesses advertising in local markets will spend $2.9 billion in 2007, with that number reaching $7.8 billion in 2011.