NEW YORK (AP) -- New York Times Co. said Wednesday its total revenue fell 6.6 percent in May as a slight rise in circulation revenue couldn't fully offset an 11.9 percent drop in ad sales.

The publisher said circulation revenue rose 1.9 percent, but ad revenue for its News Media Group decreased 13.2 percent on weakness in print advertising and ad sales for the New York Times Media Group fell 11.5 percent.

The company, which publishes The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, and The Boston Globe, said NYT media group national ad sales fell as weak telecommunications and automotive advertising countered growth in healthcare, advocacy, books and transportation categories.

The company said retail advertising revenue dropped off mainly on softness in home furnishing store, cosmetic manufacturers, department store and mass-market advertising. Classified ad sales were weak in help-wanted, real estate and automotive segments.

Meanwhile, ad sales in the company's New England Media Group fell 17.7 percent, and regional media ad revenue sipped 14.2 percent.

Advertising revenue at the About Group (which includes the Web sites of About.com, ConsumerSearch.com, UCompareHealthCare.com and Calorie-Count.com) rose 13.7 percent due to strong growth in cost-per-click advertising.

Also, total Internet revenue grew 9 percent and Internet ad sales jumped 14 percent in May. Internet businesses include NYTimes.com, About Group, Boston.com and the Web sites of the company's other newspaper properties.

Internet businesses accounted for 12.1 percent of New York Times total revenue last month, up from 10.4 percent the year before.