Newspapers have been crummy to the real estate industry for years, from ridiculous per-inch pricing to scathing editorials about commissions.

Now they're laying off editors, cutting down newsprint sizes, and wondering why they weren't nicer to their advertisers while they had the chance.

If they had been, they might not be losing 2.5 to 3.5 percent in circulation today.

A new study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism suggests that newspaper advertising revenues fell 7 percent in 2007 after a flat 2006. They also lost seven percent of their newsroom staffs.

The biggest losses were in classifieds -- largely real estate, employment and automobiles.

To blame is the Internet where lines per inch don't matter but clickthroughs do. Innovators like Realtor.com, Zillow, Craigslist, Monster.com, eBay and Edmunds.com give consumers robust, information-rich sites to peruse. They can find homes and cars faster and see what they're buying.

Try selling a home today without a video, virtual tour or multiple photographs.

Realtor.com and Zillow provide free marketing to Realtors, and they're pro-Realtor. That beats overpriced lines per inch and fuzzy photos any day of the week.

Realtors have cut their print budgets and put more money on the Web. Online real estate advertising is projected to grow over 12 percent in 2008, projects Borrell Associates.

The only thing propping up real estate print ads is sellers. They want to see their agent spend money. Yet, in a Realty Times survey with Classified Intelligence, Realtors said print advertising is overpriced and ineffective, even if sellers remain unconvinced.

The real reason online advertising is growing is that it's tailormade for small fry, like the individual Realtor. They're spending more, not less on advertising than ever before, even with the freebies they get from real estate portals. They only get 25 percent of their marketing paid for by franchises, brokers and others. They pick up the tab for everything else which is why they want the best bang for the buck -- their personal website, billboards, yard signs, flyers, and direct marketing where they can promote themselves as well as their listings.

Newspapers come in a distant fourth place at a little over 11 percent of an agent's annual advertising budget.

That's where they deserve to be until they deliver more value and stop piling on the industry.

Published: March 21, 2008

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Blanche Evans is the award-winning senior editor of Realty Times, the Internet's leading independent real estate news service. She is featured daily on the Realty Times Video Network in the "Realty Viewpoint" segment. Blanche has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate" by REALTOR Magazine, and has been twice recognized as a "notable." In 2005, she was named "Top Reporter Covering the NAR" by Delahaye-Bacon's. Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. To contact Blanche, email her at . For more articles by Blanche, click here.