Big corporations are spending too much of their advertising budgets on "meaningless placements on frivolous sites," according to News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson, as the global media company halved its profit.

News' net profit fell 52 per cent to $US23 million ($29.16 million) in the three months ending March 31. Meanwhile, revenue fell 1 per cent to $US2.06 billion, missing analysts' forecasts that had expected $US2.14 billion, according to Bloomberg.

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp has been focusing on increasing digital revenue to compensate for print declines. Credit:Reuters

Advertising sales from the Rupert Murdoch-controlled company's newspapers such as The Sun, The New York Post and The Australian, plunged 12 per cent in the quarter, hampering the group's revenue.

Its news and information services unit – which covers its newspaper business and accounts for about 65 per cent of the company's overall revenue – posted a revenue decline of 9 per cent to $US1.35 billion.