E-Media Tidbits

bluelithium.com BlueLithium, an online ad network whose strength is "behavioral targeting," was just acquired by Yahoo for $300 million.

There, I voiced my opinion about how it burns me up that news organizations continue to cut qualified journalists from their payrolls, ostensibly to control costs, while routinely leaving significant money on the table in the form of poorly sold and grossly underutilized online and mobile advertising opportunities. Then, in a Kafkaesque twist, management and journalists alike often whine about how their sites don't make much money.

Considering the key role robust journalism plays in keeping society free, I think that's practically criminal.

Advertisers want -- and are willing to pay for -- relevant exposure to relevant markets. That builds their business. In other words, they're starting to learn that 500 clicks on an online ad, or targeted exposure of their ad to 20,000 site visitors in a context relevant to editorial content, probably benefits them far more than shotgun-style, largely irrelevant exposure to the 200,000 circulation of your Sunday paper, or to the overall 100,000 daily visitors to your site.

Whenever you mention that ads should be delivered with relevant editorial content, journalists' hackles go up. They fear losing the editorial/advertising firewall, and thus their independence and credibility. I understand that fear, but I think there's a strong and ethically palatable middle ground: the burgeoning business of targeted online ad networks.

The problem is, of course, that the ad staffs at most online news organizations don't have a clue about how to work well with online ad networks, especially matching niche-style networks to specialized content -- such as, say, environmental news and features. However, my understanding is that learning to work with and integrate targeted online ad networks, and not just offer them as low-cost add-ons to print ad sales, can significantly increase revenue.

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Dare I say it: This approach might even support excellent journalism that otherwise has a hard time making it into the news hole because the paper for some reason (oh, nothing to do with untoward advertiser influence, of course not) has opted to focus its limited reporting resources on yet another lifestyle, food, auto, entertainment, or real estate feature.

Therefore, in Tidbits and my blog Contentious I'll be taking a closer look at online ad networks: How they work, their pros and cons, and how they might support faltering news organizations. Or even how they might support entrepreneurial journalism, should too many established news orgs crumble. It would be nice to offer more than sympathy to laid off, highly qualified journalists.

As I research this topic further, I'm tracking useful postings, articles, and other information via the social bookmarking service del.icio.us. Check out my ad+networks tag there for recommended reading.

How smart is your news organization about selling and delivering online ads? Are you working with online ad networks -- and in particular, are you mixing in targeted niche ad networks with more general services like Yahoo and Google ads? Have you adapted your content management system to allow for good automatic context matching? How have you handled potential conflicts of interest, real or perceived?

I realize that Poynter Online bills itself as "Everything you need to be a better journalist." Many, if not most, journalists are disinterested in or disdainful of the ad side of the business and so might wonder why I'll be covering it. I figure, a paycheck can help anyone be a better journalist. How's that for relevance?