In an article published today by Thomson Financial, they point out that traditional media companies are trying to stem the flow of advertising dollars to Google and Yahoo by building ad networks of their own, anchored by their brands.
Forbes Inc., will start selling ads this spring for about 400 financial blogs.
The article also points out that Conde Nast, Viacom, CBS Corp, Gannett and Tribune Co., the nation’s two largest newspaper publishers, joined Hearst Corp. and The New York Times Co. (NYSE:NYT) to form QuadrantOne to collectively sell some online ads. On Thursday, QuadrantOne said another 26 newspaper companies have joined.
“””Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. figures it is better off recruiting one or two dozen leading lifestyles sites that meet its editorial standards and selling higher-priced ads to Macy’s, Ace Hardware and other brands. Martha’s Circle launched in November.”””
“”””Viacom’s MTV and Nickelodeon have ad partnerships with independent parenting sites and are launching groups this spring around music and men’s lifestyles.”””
“”CBS announced last week several local ad networks around CBS-owned stations.”””
“””By employing targeting techniques such as matching ads to visitors’ surfing habits, those large networks also are stepping up their bid for higher-value ads — the ones that have traditionally gone to sites run by the media companies.””
To the extent traditional companies can bulid up their own branded network, at the expense of Google and Yahoo it would be good news for the domain industry making domain traffic more valuable to them.
