Small companies are dedicating only 3% of their advertising budgets to online initiatives, according to a study by The Boston Consulting Group. Small business' reluctance to pay for online advertising may be due to prior negative experiences or because they are overwhelmed with options, said John Rose, a senior partner at the consultancy. "It's pretty hard for them to winnow their way through the 20 to 40 unsolicited requests they get a month to use digital marketing product A versus digital marketing product B," he said.