The GDP will be even stronger than 1996's nominal 5.1 percent growth, with real growth of 2.8 percent. For 1998, we can expect GDP growth at a healthy nominal rate of 5.3 percent, with real growth of 2.4 percent. The key strength in classifieds continues to draw upon recruitment ads, with 1997 producing nearly 20 percent growth in that category, followed by real-estate advertising at 7 percent growth, and by automotive ads, now lagging, with just over 5 percent growth. Classified advertising represents nearly 40 percent of the advertising dollars invested in the average U.S. daily. This is not a category where publishers can afford complacency, as the segment attracts the most competitors from traditional print and new media.
Local franchises are at risk on all fronts.
Publishers must respond by building alliances with advertisers, developing niche products and positioning new media as resources for their communities. They must control the electronic marketplace. Strength has also flowed into this key local category. It finally pulled through the dampening impact of structural changes among retailers and the effect of newsprint prices on ad-insert users. Growth in most categories documents the basic strength in local economies, though the financial category reflects the efforts of regional and national bank officials to promote the services of acquired local branches.