The Challenge Of Non-Local Newspaper Advertising

Scott Karp, of Publishing 2.0, presents an in-depth look at the dynamic between print and online advertising for major newspapers.

With some of the major “local” newspapers – New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe – becoming more and more a part of the national (and global) media scene, it would make sense that most of the advertising revenue would come through their online editions. And yet, even with online readership skyrocketing and print subscriptions dwindling, that doesn’t begin to tell the full story.

Karp says:

I’m still more valuable to the New York Times as a print subscriber than as an online reader because my advertising value is still so much higher in print — despite my not living in New York City.

Here’s the economic reality for national newspaper brands: Print readers are scarce. Online readers are a commodity.

So here’s the dilemma – print readers are declining, but are the cornerstone of the advertising revenue. There are 10x more online readers, but newspaper websites don’t offer enough value to make it worthwhile to spend the dollars online.

It also points to the value of the local newspaper allowing advertisers to pinpoint one geographic market. While the online presence of a newspaper adds searchability and ease of access, there’s something to be said about having a product that physically reaches X amount of houses in the New York City DMA.

Karp continues:

In the market for local advertising on the web, newspapers are competing with other traditional local media companies, e.g. TV station, as well as with new web-native local publishers, and with search engines — this is a newly leveled and expanded competitive landscape, but still limited.

For non-local readers, on the other hand, newspapers are competing with hundreds, even thousands of other content sites.

In any case, it’s a fascinating issue that will continue to make news (no pun intended).