Not even the 800-pound gorilla’s hide is tough enough for the news biz.

Google’s announcement that it would end its newspaper print ad business at the end of February 2009 underscores the industry’s problems. The company started the service in 2006, and more than 800 US newspapers had used it.

The news came against the backdrop of declining newspaper revenues; although online newspaper revenues are still growing, that is not nearly enough to offset losses on the print side. The Newspaper Association of America said newspaper print ad revenues fell more than 9% in 2007.

via Google and Newsprint Ads - eMarketer.