Editor & Publisher Online: Newspaper Sites Struggle With Advertising Question

Newspapers have built it, but the advertisers don't necessarily come. "It" is the newspaper Web site, the top online information source in many markets, handily trouncing competitors. Yet online newspaper executives sing this common refrain: "National advertisers ignore us. We can't get in the door with national buyers."

When you ask national ad buyers why they don't purchase space on newspaper Web sites, you'll get a variety of answers. One you won't hear is "I'm too lazy to do the research on local online audiences" — even though that answer may be as applicable as any of the others.

Until local portals (local newspaper sites) also learn what national media buyers are looking for and start cramming it down their throats it'll be a long time before they really start attracting those buyers. At the same time, most local newspapers are in the dark about how they want to sell online and are fearful of cannibalizing their 'highly profitable' display advertising.

If you ask me, the main reason local newspaper sites aren't seeing more online ad dollars comes down to bad business decisions, or more accurately non-decisions, about how to sell the online space during the past 5 years or so. That's changing slowly though. It would help to see some major agencies dedicated to pushing major brands out into the local markets.