Four of the largest newspaper firms in the Unites States, The New York Times Company, Hearst Corporation,  Gannett Company and the Tribune Company, have united to sell Internet advertisements through the creation of a new stand-alone company called quadrantONE, the firms announced Friday. quadrantONE aims to make it easier for national advertisers to place ads on 174 local Web sites covering 27 of the top 30 U.S. markets with a combined reach of over 50 million unique visitors a month, said company executives at the new firm, to be headquartered in Chicago. quadrantONE is expected to begin operations by the beginning of April. Leveraging Combined Audiences By uniting through quadrantONE, the firms hope to leverage the combined audience draw of their many Web  sites to better compete with online advertising rivals including Google and Yahoo. quadrantONE, which will hire 17 people and have additional offices in Los Angeles and New York, looks to attract large advertisers who have until now had to separately contact each of the local newspapers included in the partnership, a process that can now be completed with a single call, the firms said. Each of the four publishers have contributed funding to quadrantONE, however the terms of each one's contribution to the partnership were not disclosed. "By aggregating the online audiences of quadrantONE's participating media companies, large national advertisers can immediately access tens of millions of unique visitors in the country's top markets," said Dana Hayes, interim quadrantONE chief executive and Tribune Interactive senior vice president for sales. Hayes explained that the four companies that have formed quadrantONE will contribute advertising inventory. "Each participating company has agreed to dedicate advertising inventory to quadrantONE, so the network can offer customized online campaigns on a highly competitive basis. Imagine placing the same ad across hundreds of local Web sites on the same day with one buy - that's the power of this network," he said. Certain Top National Papers Not Included Among the newspaper Web sites the group will sell ads on are the The Los Angeles Times, a Tribune property, Gannett's Des Moines Register, the New York Times Company's Boston Globe, and Hearst's Houston Chronicle. Several of the leading paper Web sites controlled by members of the group will not be included in the quadrantONE program because they are considered national in scope, including those of Gannett's USA Today, The International Herald Tribune and The New York Times, which are owned by the Times Company, according to Friday's joint press release. The venture follows in the path of the consortium of over 150 newspapers formed by Yahoo in November, 2006 to sell online ads, which has since grown to include over 550 papers, and comes as newspaper firms face increasing pressure to do business with established premium ads sellers such as the Yahoo consortium, Google and Microsoft. Some of the papers that form quadrantONE are also part of the Yahoo consortium, while all four of the companies joining in the new partnership own portions of the Newspaper National Network, a group that helps national advertisers place ads both in print and Web newspaper editions. "For the first time, the media industry will be able to compete effectively for advertising dollars currently going to the national portals and others," said Gannett Digital Ventures president Jack Williams in Friday's announcement. "quadrantONE's audience is of the highest quality. By networking our Web sites, we have delivered - in one stroke - the reach and scope desired by national advertisers," Williams added. Covering Most of U.S. Top Markets Among the top U.S. markets that will be affected by the creation of quadrantONE, which got its name from the upper right quadrant on a chart, are the following:  | New York | | Los Angeles | | | Albany, New York | | Chicago | | | San Jose | | San Francisco | | | Ft. Lauderdale | | Boston | | | Sarasota | | Atlanta | | | San Antonio | | Houston | | | Orlando | | Phoenix | | | Minneapolis / St. Paul | | Detroit | | | Denver | | Dallas | | | Cincinnati | | Baltimore | | | Philadelphia | | Washington, D.C. | Executives at the four media companies that have created quadrantONE expressed hopes that the new partnership will help sell more ads. "When faced with a growing number of fragmented ad media options, particularly on the Web, advertisers are looking for new opportunities and innovative models providing a valuable, measurable consumer experience. quadrantONE steps up to the challenge of the new media future, and on behalf of our advertisers, we appreciate that it provides hyper-localized opportunities for brand impact that resonate with targeted audiences," said Chris Boothe, the president and chief activation officer at media planning and buying firm Starcom USA. 129 Newspapers and Hundreds of Media Properties Some analysts don't see the type of newspaper partnership quadrantONE has formed as being strong enough  to compete against the established online programs offered by firms such as Google. "I don’t think the alignment of newspaper companies will solve the issue. They need that alignment with a technology company that will bring them the set of skills that they need to monetize their content," Forrester Research analyst Shar VanBoskirk told the New York Times in a recent article. Boston Globe publisher Steven Ainsley is more optimistic. "With the rapid expansion of online inventory, advertisers we talk with are seeking trusted alternatives," said Ainsley in the joint announcement. "Guaranteed placements within quality branded environments, coupled with the ease of a one-order, one-invoice approach to a national buy, makes for a very competitive proposition," Ainsley added. The four companies uniting to form quadrantONE own 129 newspapers and hundreds of media properties such as radio and television stations and magazines, and hope to attract advertisers with the sizable media collection. "We now have the ability to offer advertisers the aggregated inventory of our prized content categories such as health, business news, technology, sports, personal finance and auto news. That's never been possible before," said Hearst Newspaper senior vice president for digital media Lincoln Millstein. Reaction to the partnership among analysts also included praise. "This is the kind of consortium that makes absolute sense for a troubled industry that is trying to compete with new people like the search engines," Carlyle Group managing director Norman Pearlstine said in a television interview with Bloomberg Television. "The big problem for all newspapers that have a metro focus is being able to sell national ads," Pearlstine added. Four Large U.S. Newspaper Firms Unite to Sell Web Advertisements Although not seeking additional owners in the partnership, the group is accepting ad inventory from other newspapers. Executives at the group have said that newspaper companies have a better understanding of the local advertising market than Google, Yahoo and Microsoft, and can do a better job of helping national advertisers with local Web site placements, according to the Times. In the wake of recent staff cuts at both the Times and Tribune, the quadrantONE initiative may take on extra importance to the Gannett, Hearst, Tribune and Times group. Related Links:
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10:44 pm on Feb. 15, 2008 (utc 0)