Newspapers Look to Targeting, Video to Boost
Flagging Revenues
MARCH 14, 2012
Will newer display formats and better targeting help digital
revenues rise faster?
It’s not news that newspapers are having a harder time than they once did
raking in the ad dollars. After years of more dramatic declines, eMarketer
estimates that US spending on print newspaper advertisements will dip another 6%
in 2012 to $19.4 billion. Digital ad sales for newspapers are doing better—they
are expected to increase 11.4% this year—but will still account for only $3.7
billion, meaning that gains on the online side of the ledger will not yet
balance out print’s losses.
March 2012 research from the Pew
Project for Excellence in Journalism suggests that newspapers are bullish
about online opportunities, however, seeing targeting and newer ad formats as
important sources of incremental revenues.
More than nine in 10 US newspapers selling targeted online advertising
believed that such ads would take in a greater share of digital revenue over the
next year, and nearly as many respondents said the same for video ads. Most
respondents, however, also reported that these two tactics represented only a
minor portion of their ad sales effort—with more going toward other display and
banner advertising or classifieds.
Mobile may also be a new bright spot for the print world. Between Q4 2010 and
the same period in 2011, Pew reported, mobile ad revenues climbed to nine times
their earlier level as a percentage of total digital revenues.
eMarketer predicts continued growth in online ad spending for US newspapers
(including mobile display and search ads), reaching $4.5 billion by 2016. At the
same time, the decrease in revenues from print ads will continue to gradually
shrink, but still outweigh digital gains. By 2016, the newspaper industry will
still be losing about 1% of total ad dollars each year.
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