DotConnect

Jan 4, 2012

The National Newspaper Association is partnering with DotConnect Media, the national advertising division of TownNews.com, to help meet the needs of member newspapers to earn more revenue from online advertising. This network will allow newspapers to realize revenue immediately with no upfront cost.

By being part of a nationwide network, each participating newspaper benefits from the sales efforts of DCM, the numerous press associations that have partnered with DotConnect and every other newspaper in the network. All of these "feet on the street" are encouraging national and regional advertisers to use this network of websites to reach target markets.

Participating newspapers allocate anywhere from 10 percent to 100 percent of their unsold inventory to the network. DotConnect's remnant program guarantees revenue to all participating newspapers. Whenever a "full price" ad is not sold, DotConnect fills the spot with a remnant ad. Although the rate is lower, it guarantees revenue to the participating newspapers.

There is no initial upfront cost to participate in the network. Newspapers are encouraged to offer the three standard sizes recommended by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) on their sites. The sizes (in pixels) are 728 x 90, 300 x 250 and 160 x 600. Many newspapers already offer one or more of these sizes. A participating newspaper will not need to offer all three. However, advertisers will request specific sizes and only those papers with the requested size available will receive the advertising. A newspaper's website does not have to be hosted by TownNews; any newspaper with a website can participate.

DotConnect Media is owned by TownNews, a subsidiary of Iowa-based Lee Enterprises. With this partnership, NNA and DCM will attempt to sell national advertising onto each participating newspaper's website with a percentage of the revenue going to the newspaper, a percentage to DCM and a percentage to NNA. This network of newspaper websites across the country will provide advertisers with high traffic surrounded by local content combined with an ease of purchase that rivals Google and Yahoo!