The New York Times reports this morning that Gannett will introduce a new service on its newspaper Web sites next month called “PaperBoy” that “displays banner ads that readers can expand into a virtual version of the weekly local circulars so familiar to offline newspaper readers.”
The goal of the service is to “give national advertisers a way to reach online readers in local markets with promotions tied to neighborhood stores” and to protect a traditional newspaper revenue stream that has been under threat from Internet companies such as Google.
The goal of the service is to “give national advertisers a way to reach online readers in local markets with promotions tied to neighborhood stores” and to protect a traditional newspaper revenue stream that has been under threat from Internet companies such as Google.
- KC's View:
- While some newspaper executives worry that this move will move revenue from offline vehicles to online sites, this is a specious concern – end of the day, Gannett will still be cashing the checks. Better to have multiple distribution methods than to cling to the old vehicles that are facing nine miles of bad road.
