By: Sellers of online advertising have typically talked about "clicks" and "page views," but New York Times Digital is now talking "reach" and "frequency" -- terms usually applied to TV and print advertising.
The Internet division of The New York Times Co. is pitching its new "surround sessions" format as a way for advertisers to reach readers over an extended period of time. Introduced last month, the sessions "will change the way we think about interactive advertising, moving the basic measure from impression to session," Martin Nisenholtz, CEO of New York Times Digital, said in a statement.
The new format gives advertisers exclusive positions on multiple Web pages so that readers are "followed" as they navigate through NYTimes.com.
A visitor to the business section of NYTimes.com might find that the top and bottom ad banners plus the right skyscraper ad all feature complementary creative from one advertiser. As the user clicks on a headline to read an article, new ads from the same advertiser are served, continuing the session and allowing the advertiser to develop a message over a prolonged visit to the Web site. The session would end when the user leaves NYTimes.com.
The first advertisers to use surround sessions are E*Trade Center--New York, Nexium, and Porsche Cars North America Inc. NYTimes.com will provide advertisers with reports designed to measure the effectiveness of the campaigns.
The Online Publishers Association, of which New York Times Digital is a member, praised the new format. "Moving the industry from impression-based sales to audience-based sales is a step in the right direction for both publishers and advertisers and will help integrate online with traditional media for planning and buying purposes," said Michael Zimbalist, acting executive director of the OPA.
In an advertisement in
Mediaweek magazine, NYTimes.com pitched the surround session as a way for television advertisers to reach the at-work audience, which for the most part doesn't have access to television.
Mediaweek is a sister publication of
E&P.
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