QuadrantONE's Lifestyle Vertical Network Scores Top Advertisers

By: Mike Shields/Mediaweek QuadrantONE, the joint venture between Hearst, the New York Times Co., Gannett and the Tribune Co. aimed at bringing more national advertisers to local news Web sites, recently introduced a lifestyle vertical network that has scored several top advertisers.

The startup company?s new Lifestyle group aggregates ad inventory within the various lifestyle-focused sections housed on the company?s nearly 350 partner sites. According to comScore, the group reached 27 million unique users in October.

As of result of that audience clout, quadrantONE has been able to sign on a host of top brands, including Dove, Kraft, IKEA, Wheat Thins, American Family Insurance, Est?e Lauder and Bud Select.

According to quadrantONE chief executive officer Andy Ellenthal, the comScore data has proven to be crucial in opening the eyes of several reluctant advertisers. ?The prevailing wisdom has always been that online newspaper traffic has been largely driven by sports, hard news and business,? he said. ?Our new comScore rankings demonstrate that local audiences also leverage their community sites big or small when they are seeking information useful to their day-to-day lives.?

-- Nielsen Business Media