Yahoo in ad partnership with US newspapers

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

NEW YORK, Nov 21: Yahoo Inc has said that it struck a deal with the publishers of 176 U.S. newspapers to let them use its technology to sell help-wanted advertising and offer a variety of local information services.

The move is an attempt by Yahoo to expand its reach into local markets, viewed as a key growth prospect as it battles rivals such as Google Inc. for advertising dollars.

For publishers, it is a bid to expand their audience and advertising revenue as more readers drop the print editions of their papers in favor of getting their news and classified ads from the Internet.

The publishers include Belo Corp., Cox Newspapers Inc, Hearst Newspapers, Journal Register Co., Lee Enterprises Inc, MediaNews Group and E.W. Scripps Co.

Their newspapers circulate in 38 U.S. states, and include major metropolitan dailies such as the San Francisco Chronicle, the Dallas Morning News and the Los Angeles Daily News.

''We believe the local segment is largely untapped and provides significant opportunities to expand audience engagement and subsequently grow local advertising,'' Yahoo Chief Executive Terry Semel said in a statement.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

In a key element, advertisers who list jobs in the papers will also be able to post them on Yahoo's HotJobs Web site, potentially widening the appeal of print help-wanted ads, which have lost ground in recent years to online recruiting sites.

That arrangement grew out of an existing deal between HotJobs, MediaNews and Belo.

The papers also will use Yahoo's technology to sell ads on their Web sites, and offer search functions, local listings, maps and event calendars. Newspaper articles will also be distributed across Yahoo's news and other sites.

The job ads will begin running in December. The companies plan to release more details about search and other technology next year.

''The bottom line is that these newspaper companies have decided to answer the 'friend or foe' question that all traditional media companies face regarding online players,'' UBS analyst Brian Schachter wrote in an investor note. ''They have decided it is better to be friends with Yahoo.'' Newspapers have reported falling ad revenue or weak growth across their ad segments, including help-wanted advertising. Their Web sites, however, have been posting strong ad growth.

The deal serves as a riposte to an announcement by search and advertising rival Google earlier this month that it would help customers buy advertisements in 50 U.S. newspapers.

They include prominent names like Tribune Co.'s Chicago Tribune, the Philadelphia Inquirer and The New York Times Co.'s Boston Globe.

The Yahoo deal also can help boost HotJobs' prominence in the online classifieds market. The service has been overshadowed by competitors such as CareerBuilder, which is owned by Gannett, Tribune and McClatchy Co., as well as Monster Worldwide Inc.'s Monster.com.

CareerBuilder has about 32 percent of the North American revenue among job sites, followed by Monster.com at 31 percent and HotJobs at 9 percent, according to the Morgan Stanley Publishing Handbook.

Newspapers have struggled over the past decade to form online advertising networks to act as a bulwark against Web challengers.

The New Century Network was formed in 1995 by nine newspaper chains, only to shut down in 1998. Real Cities is another such venture backed by rival U.S. newspaper chains.

Yahoo shares were off 16 cents at .75 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq stock market.

REUTERS

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