The number of small and medium-sized businesses that spend money on online advertising is now greater than those investing their dollars in traditional media like print and television, according to Kelsey Group. That's a first, and the research firm says it marks a turning point.

The annual study, conducted with ConStat, says that 77 percent of SMBs are advertising on the Internet, up from 73 percent a year ago. Meanwhile, those using traditional media to hock their products and services dropped from 74 percent to 69 percent.

Those numbers don't take into account how much the SMBs are spending on their ads, just where they're placing them. But while online advertising made up less than 37 percent of the companies' overall spending, that's up considerably from the 22 percent reported last year. And while the average SMB is spending 23.5 percent less on advertising this month than it did in August 2008 -- down from $2,734 to $2,092 -- the online spend grew from $608 to $769.

That increase isn't exactly in line with a recent report from IDC, which estimated that worldwide Internet advertising spending fell from $14.7 billion to $13.9 billion in the second quarter -- the second consecutive quarter of decline.

But even though the overall local ad market has taken a beating in the recession, SMBs are increasingly going digital. Smaller businesses spent $6.7 billion on online ads last year, according to Borrell Associates, which predicts that sum will grow to $7.4 billion by 2013. And with overall online ad spending down, the Googles and Yahoos of the world have increasingly focused on leveraging local search.

Another interesting note in the Kelsey study: The percentage of SMBs that use the Internet to track sources of new business leads is now at 30 percent, up from 22 percent last year.