Newspaper Sites Enhance Behavior Targeting

By: Carl Sullivan Many online advertisers only want their messages to appear in particular content sections -- business or travel, for example. As technology becomes more sophisticated, some newspapers are doing behavior targeting, where ads are served to the most valuable audiences, no matter what section of the site they're visiting.

If a particular advertiser only wants to target readers of The New York Times on the Web's business section, but the ad inventory in business is sold out, the site can now track business readers as they visit other sections, said Deputy General Manager Stephen Newman. So the ads can be served to those business readers as they read sports or metro stories, Newman explained. The program will roll out at NYTimes.com in the next quarter or so.

"This is really important for newspaper sites because most are largely sold out in their most valuable areas like automotive, jobs, travel, and health," said Dave Morgan, president and CEO of New York-based Tacoda Systems Inc., which helps publishers target online audiences. "But newspapers have a harder time effectively selling their sports, local news, chat, and forums to advertisers." These content areas tend to sell for much lower rates, but publishers can still charge a premium if the ads are being delivered to the "most valuable" audience members, such as those who are regular readers of business and travel, Morgan said.