UK newspapers could get much more ad revenue out of their websites, Ernst &Young claims in a new report. The consultants say that if newspapers got as much revenue out of their users as Google, they would have earned 120 to 250 million pounds each in 2007, instead of around one-fifth of that. Google had revenues of 1,26 billion pounds in the UK in 2007.
E&Y say that the newspapers should start offering advertisers cost per click (CPC) based ad models alongside the usual cost per thousand page impressions (CPM). But can ads in newspapers ever become as relevant to the user as Google’s search-based ads? Maybe on the newspapers’ own search pages? Some news websites have fought advertisers who wanted CPC before, because they feared too few would click (they know their own click-through rates, of course).
Other recommendations: acquire online classified ad services (a well-known strategy in Norway) and improve behavioural targeting of users. It would be interesting to know how much of this is done already, and what regulations exist — probably privacy rules are tougher in for example Germany and Norway than in the UK and US. (tip: journalism.co.uk).
UPDATE: A prediction for the US online ad market says growth will continue and the shares of the different types of advertising will be very stable in the five years ahead.
