Newspapers must respond "quickly and forcefully" to the threat the internet poses to their classified advertising revenues, a new analyst report advises.

JupiterResearch's report, which focused on the US market, found: "Newspapers are now the number two advertising source for online consumers, but online newspaper classifieds are far behind, even among those who use print classifieds."

It warned that the market is vulnerable to upstart listings sites like Craigslist and Simply Hired, but that "it may be too late for newspapers to respond to the challenge from these different players".

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