Contextual advertising, those short, text-based links that appear next to a Web site’s content, is one of the hottest areas on the Web, thanks in large part to the success of Google’s AdSense network. But now that pay-per-click advertising has grown into a $3.1 billion business, according to the latest figures by Jupiter Research, Google is facing a growing host of competitors.

One Google competitor, New York-based Quigo, has had particular success in the newspaper sector, thanks in large part to a business model that allows local publishers to keep their existing advertiser relationships in-house.

For more information on the Quigo adsense alternative go tohttp://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/departments/online/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001140117 .