MediaBuyerPlanner: Wachovia Securities analyst John Janedis says that automotive advertising may continue to decline.

And Mitch Lowe, a CEO with Jumpstart Automotive Media - a digital ad network focused on the auto industry - says that nine years ago approximately 62 percent of dealer ad dollars were allocated to newspapers, Editor & Publisher reports. This year, Lowe states, the percentage dropped from 58 percent to about 30 percent.

According to the article, more auto buyers are moving away from newspapers and turning to the internet. "Consumers are leaving newspapers," says Lowe. "And dealers are waking up to it."

He explains that auto advertisers are looking for four themes when placing their ad dollars: ads that are visual, interactive, measurable, and targeted beyond psychographic and demographic characteristics. He continues that it is hard to deny that the internet is useful when tracking potential customers.

"Unfortunately for newspapers, it's a melting ice cube all the way around," he says. "Consumers can get much better information on websites that are auto-specific. ... I haven't seen a large newspaper company build that out."