Online

The most used local website in all  25 of the top twenty five markets in the U.S. is a newspaper website according to comScore 2010.  Newspaper websites now have over 100 million unique visitors per month. 61% of all active internet users visited a newspaper website in the past month looking at over 4 billion pages. On an average day, 20 million users visit a newspaper site each day.

Advertising on local newspaper Web sites is considered more trustworthy because the ads are more current, with credibility and local relevance also important factors. All demographic groups rated “more likely to be current” as the top reason, nearly or exceeding eight­ in­ ten for each group. Credibility was an especially important factor for those in upper­ income households and the college ­educated (57% for each). Advertising considered as “more local” ranked high for those age 55 and older (68%) and for the college ­educated (55%).

The strength of local newspaper websites grows when respondents were asked to identify websites used most often for specific types of local content. Newspaper sites ranked first as a source for local information (29%), local sports (27%) local entertainment (26%) and local classifieds (39%), ahead of both local television websites and online portals. Local newspaper websites and local television websites were cited by nearly identical percentages (30% and 31%, respectively) as sources relied on most often for local news.

Local newspaper websites rate better overall than other local competitors in terms of being trustworthy or reliable. While virtually tied with local television websites as the one source considered most trustworthy or reliable for local news (33% vs. 32%, respectively), newspaper sites had a larger lead in all the other content areas. Local newspaper websites led television by twelve percentage points (34% vs. 22%) for local information, by six points for local sports (30% vs. 24%), by ten points for local entertainment (30% vs. 20%) and by twenty-nine points for local classifieds (42% vs. 13%).

Four in ten adults (40%) agreed that their opinion of the advertising they see online is influenced by the type of website upon which the ad appears. Younger adults (18 – 34) are more likely than those 55 and older to agree that the type of website matters for advertising (46% vs. 31%). Those in higher income households are slightly more likely to agree than those with lover household incomes (42% vs. 38%). However, education level does not appear to make a difference.

Among those who agree that their opinion of advertising is influenced by the type of website, local newspaper sites are rank first in terms of the trustworthiness of the advertising. More than one-third (36%) selected local newspaper websites for trustworthy advertising compared to less than one-fourth (23%) for local television websites and less than one-in-eight (12%) for online portals. And local newspaper sites were the clear winner across all demographic categories - - even among the younger 18 – 34 age group, leading the second-ranked television websites by thirteen percentage points (35% vs. 22%), and online portals by 24 percentage points (35% vs. 11%).

Advertising on local newspaper websites is considered more trustworthy because the ads are more current, with credibility and local relevance also important factors. All demographic groups rated “more likely to be current” as the top reason, nearly or exceeding eight-in-ten for each group.

Credibility was an especially important factor for those in upper-income households and the college-educated (57% for each). Advertising considered as “more local” ranked high for those age 55 and older (68%) and for the college-educated (55%).

Why are newspaper sites the most trusted by online viewers? The comScore research says that consumers believe that newspaper sites have ads that are more likely to be current (78%) 48% say newspaper sites have ads that are likely to be more credible, ads tend to be more local (46%), ads are from sources that are more familiar due to the printed paper(30%0, that newspaper sites offer a combination of advertising and other local content (23%) and newspaper sites are perceived to have less junk advertising (21%).

When we examine comScore behavioral data we find that ads on newspaper sites drive more search than ads on other sites  And ads on newspaper sites drive consumers to advertiser’s sites in the two weeks after a display ad runs on a newspaper site.

Where you advertise online matters. If you want action, effectiveness, credibility and trust as well as to be recognized within the local community, newspaper websites do provide a quality premium environment

Why advertise on a newspaper website?

1. Frequency: The online newspaper Website user spends more than twice as many hours online than the general user. Online newspaper users are three times as likely as general ’Net users to be online during the workday when out of reach of other media –8-11 a.m. is a new “primetime” for media consumption (Source: “Power Users,” 2006, MORI Research)
2. Credibility: Branded content brings a higher quality audience.  A study from the Online Publishers Association (OPA) showed that OPA audiences were more like to buy products and services in a number of key categories, including automotive, entertainment, financial, home, travel and business to business.
3. Targeted: If you want to focus on a particular backyard, advertising in an online newspaper is more personal, and more relevant because it is local. Newspapers also publish a plethora of niche sites (youth, women, movie fans, Hispanics, are illustrative) for virtually any demographic advertisers could possibly hope to reach. – “Newspapers know more than ever about their Web audience because of online registration programs and audience segmentation software.”]
4. Purchasing power: Eighty-ninepercent of newspaper Website users purchase online compared with 56 percent of general users. Forty percent of online newspaper users have incomes higher than $75,000; 69 percent own their homes. Eighteen percent of online newspaper users have spent more than $2,000 online in the last six months.
5. Content: Excluding e-mail, the most popular online activities and content categories Include national and local news, sports, financial information and entertainment news and things to do. Fifty-four percent of general Internet users visit online newspapers for local news, compared with 40 percent for the local TV station Website and 20 percent for the local radio station site. Not even Yahoo! can top online newspapers as a local news source. [“Power Users,” 2006, MORI Research]
6. Newspaper online audience keeps growing: Nationally, online newspapers keep growing their audiences. In an average month during the first quarter 2009, more than 73 million visited a newspaper website, more than 43% of the active Internet universe (Nielsen Online).
7. High profile: Online newspapers generate very large gains in Online Ad Awareness among C-level and other higher management job holders: C-level managers showed a 23 percent increase in Aided Brand Awareness, VP/director-level managers showed a 38 percent increase an other management showed a 37 percent increase following their exposure to an ad campaign in online newspapers (across all industries.) When the brand metric shifts to Message Association, C-level execs showed the largest increase in lift after exposure to campaigns on online newspapers, at 88 percent. No management category showed less than a 51 percent increase. (Dynamic Logic’s MarketNorms® database, 2006)
8. Reinforcement: Fifty-six percent of online newspaper users also read the newspaper in the past five days, and repetition increases awareness.
9. Cutting Edge: Newspaper Website users are more likely (by almost twenty percent to own some kind of portable electronic device.  They are also more interested in receiving advertising and product offers through those devices.  Forty percent of online newspaper users are aged 18 to 34. [Source: “Power Users,” 2006, MORI Research]
10. Mix: A variety of recent studies have demonstrated the power of online, when included in a mix with traditional media, to elaborate the brand message. Newspaper print and online products combined have the highest penetration and most desirable audience of any other local medium.