The Digital Edge Blog

Nielsen: Drudge Report Leads Top 30 in Sessions per Person; Newspapers Shift on List

2008-07-16T16:40:00-04:00

Although DrudgeReport.com again has the highest number of sessions per person by far, MSNBC now tops Yahoo! News on unique audience.

Nielsen Online provides these numbers to the Newspaper Association of America on a monthly basis, showing traffic and sessions per person* to the top 30 sites in the “News” category based on May 2008 numbers. It takes into account U.S. home and work Internet usage, and it shows both unique visitors to each brand or channel and sessions per person. (For more information about the sourcing of these statistics, please visit www.netratings.com.)

Newspapers

The Deseret Morning News, based in Salt Lake City, Utah, suddenly moved into the top 10 on the sessions per person list; the newspaper wasn’t listed last month. The newspaper instituted a redesign last year that included article commenting, a “most popular” list and several other features that have increased traffic to the site. However, The Deseret News was not able to explain the sudden jump this summer in Nielsen’s numbers, as they don’t reflect internal numbers.

Other newspaper moves on the list from last month to this month:

Gannett’s Newspaper Division moved down just slightly, from 12^th place to 13^th.
The Star Tribune moved up to 15^th place from 19^th.
The New York Times moved 16^th place, down one spot.
Media General moved down two spots to 18^th.

In the bottom 10 of this list: Hearst Newspapers Digital, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and washingtonpost.com moved up slightly; USAToday.com dropped slightly; and, Cox Newspapers moved off the list (from 28^th place last month).

Like last month, 10 of the top 30 in this list are newspapers or newspaper companies. (For more newspaper company metrics from Nielsen, click here.)

* Note on the following numbers: Auto-refresh features on Web sites (i.e. when a Web site page reloads automatically) does not increase the number of sessions. For more information about the metrics, go to www.netratings.com

^ Indicates Home and Work audience duplication projections did not meet minimum sample size standards. Combined home and work audience estimates for these sites may exhibit increased variability month-to-month as a result.

Brand or Channel	Sessions per Person	Unique Audience ('000)
1. drudgereport.com	21.2	2,709
2. Daily Kos^	10.0	936
3. Fox News Digital Network	8.2	10,471
4. AOL News	8.2	22,081
5. CNN Digital Network	7.3	33,417
6. Yahoo! News	7.1	34,992
7. Deseret Morning News^	6.4	905
8. Google News	6.4	10,543
9. ksl.com^	5.9	982
10. Netscape	5.8	1,690
11. MSNBC Digital Network	5.8	37,644
12. Breitbart.com	5.7	1,980
13. Gannett Newspapers and Newspaper Division	5.1	12,405
14. Newsmax.com	5.1	2,711
15. Star Tribune	5.0	1,844
16. NYTimes.com	4.5	17,650
17. Townhall.com	4.4	1,025
18. Media General Newspapers	4.4	1,798
19. Real Clear Politics^	4.4	1,008
20. IB Websites	4.1	6,079
21. WorldNow	4.1	7,957
22. TWC News Websites^	4.1	1,114
23. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel	4.0	1,450
24. USAToday.com	3.9	9,626
25. wasingtonpost.com	3.8	9,062
26. Hearst Newspapers Digital	3.6	7,372
27. Gannett Broadcasting	3.6	4,806
28. Cox Newspapers	3.4	5,122
29. GTGI Network	3.4	1,631
30. worldnetdaily.com	3.4	1,209

Local Search: Strategies for Audience and Revenue Growth

2008-07-15T15:33:00-04:00

NAA has been cranking out the reports this summer -- here's the latest one:

Local Search: Strategies for Audience and Revenue Growth
www.naa.org/localsearch

Newspapers are finding new and varied ways of tapping into the search space. Some are blending news and targeted advertising content with more sophisticated search tools, at times supplemented by human hands to differentiate them from the competition. Others are partnering with such potential "frenemies" as Google and Yahoo! to sell pay-per-click contextual advertising.

The case studies in “Local Search: Strategies for Audience and Revenue Growth” examine several strategies, including:

Boston.com’s creation of integrated search and its use of “search as platform.”
Freedom Interactive’s companywide priority on search sales, integrating search optimization with traditional advertising in its markets.
Ottaway’s metadata-sharing partnership with Google to bolster its regional directory sites.
GateHouse Media’s product search strategy.
NH.com’s consolidation of disparate verticals into a statewide directory to drive critical mass.
Savannahnow.com’s use of SEO as a sales tactic to sell a blended array of services.

Go to www.naa.org/localsearch.

Note: When you click on the link above, you will have to log in to NAA.org to view the report. Please use your business e-mail address to log in. You can change your password through NAA’s Member Center. Please let me know if you have any questions about this.

Related Report
For even more on local search and local shopping, see last year’s "Newspaper Online Shopping Report: Online Relationships with Retailers," by Peter Krasilovsky.

Marcano: ?Don?t Worry? About UGC

2008-07-10T22:33:00-04:00

As part of our recently released report on user-generated content opportunities for newspapers, NAA asked four digital media leaders to write down their thoughts on the topic. The following is an excerpt from one of those essays. The full report, including the opinion pieces, is available at www.naa.org/ugcopportunities.

The following comes from Ray Marcano, Internet General Manager for Cox Ohio Publishing:

Don’t worry.

That’s, generally, the advice I give when I’m asked about user-generated content. Some sites still shy away from information contributed by its readers, citing legal worries, inappropriate postings and even the sanctity of journalism as their reasons.

Don’t worry

User-generated content gives e-paper sites a tremendous opportunity to reconnect with its users, foster a sense of community and provide community connections in unparalleled ways.

…

What about the worries? In the last few years, as we’ve aggressively ramped up user generated material, there have been precious few problems overall. True, our message boards have been challenging at times, and there are some that we spend more time on than others.

But otherwise, we generally don’t have to worry about inappropriate information because our users tend to be responsible and respectful.

For more about user-generated content opportunities for newspapers, see "Engaging Users: User-Generated Content and Tools for Newspapers" at www.naa.org/ugcpportunities.

3 Weeks Left to Enter '20 Under 40'

2008-07-09T15:38:00-04:00

Posting this on behalf of NAA's PRESSTIME magazine:

There's still time to highlight your organization's top young talent. Nominations for PRESSTIME's 20 Under 40 awards are due July 31, 2008.

The annual awards recognize high achievers from all parts of the newspaper industry and from newspapers of all sizes. Winners are profiled in the December issue of PRESSTIME and on www.naa.org/presstime.

Help us honor the industry's rising stars. Go to www.naa.org/presstime/20under40entry and submit a nomination today. There is no limit to the number of nominations that can be submitted, but nominees must work for NAA-member newspaper companies.

For more information, contact PRESSTIME Associate Editor John Heys at (571) 366-1108 or john.heys@naa.org.

Horton: Newspapers Should Create Opportunities for Readers

2008-07-09T09:22:00-04:00

The following comes from Jay Horton of the Tallahassee Democrat:

The opportunity for newspapers is to use the incredible platform they have built with the broadsheet, their newspaper/city site, and the whole host of special sections and products they publish and challenge themselves to determine if they truly build community. Are they built around passions of the people who read them? If so, the next challenge is to create the opportunities for them to contribute. Make it easy. Give them the tools to share with their friends and family.

The most important thing for our businesses is to track our UGC contributors and their audiences and aggregate them, so our advertisers have an opportunity to reach the critical mass they need to deliver successful ad campaigns.

Read more about opportunities in UGC, including the rest of Schaffer’s piece, at www.naa.org/ugcopportunities.

Schaffer: Opportunties, Caution on UGC

2008-07-07T09:18:46-04:00

The following comes from Jan Schaffer of J-Lab, The Institute for Interactive Journalism:

Citizen media sites are high-touch ventures, as news organizations that have pioneered in this area will attest. They require attention and stroking from editors willing to be both cheerleaders as well as content wranglers….

Still, there are several other opportunities for user-generated content on newspaper Web sites, and they go beyond individual blogs or postings on forums or bulletin boards. Some have met with success and some are as yet untapped. Here are some things to consider:

• Eyewitness Accounts

• Eyesores, Fix-its

• Crowdsourcing

• Game the news

• Micro-grants for local community news sites

Read more about opportunities in UGC, including the rest of Schaffer’s piece, at www.naa.org/ugcopportunities.

Egan: Across Formats, Many Newspapers Seeing Unprecedented Success in Growing Audience

2008-07-03T08:27:00-04:00

This is one of the messages NAA has been trying to get across for the past few years, and it’s nice to hear someone else say it.

Acknowledging a really unpleasant June for the hundreds of newspaper employees who have been laid off while noting the online success and overall importance of newspapers, The New York Times Outpost blogger Timothy Egen wrote:

What started as layoffs and buyouts is edging toward closures and bankruptcies.

And here’s the great paradox: All of this bad news is coming at a time when the audience and reach of many newspapers has never been greater. The Internet may kill the daily newspaper as we know it, but it’s allowed some papers to increase their readership by tenfold.

Those who revel in the life-threatening trauma that newspapers are going through, saying they brought it upon themselves by being too liberal, too sensationalistic, too banal — choose your insult — miss the point. People are not deserting these complex and contradictory summaries of our collective existence. Not by any stretch.

Measured purely by number of readers in all formats, many newspapers have never been more successful.

The rest of the blog entry is here.

Leonard: Possibilities for Newspaper UGC are 'Wide Open'

2008-07-02T09:19:22-04:00

The following comes from Kyle Leonard, managing editor of TribLocal.com:

The possibilities for user-generated copy are as wide open as the editors and newspaper executives contemplating its use allow. While it must be acknowledged that there are stories, photos and reporting that only a professional can perform, it should also be recognized there are countless stories and photos out there a seasoned professional would ignore or choose not to report, but the consumer of a newspaper would find interesting and relevant to their daily lives.

…

The obvious, near-term use for user-generated copy for mainstream media will be to produce copy easily and at low cost that is relevant to their readers. It is important to note that user-generated copy must be treated just as any other copy in the newspaper environment, which means it may not be the staff-cutting tool accountants envision.

Editors still need to fact check and copy edit, and indeed need to be more diligent with copy coming from people they do not know and trust. There can be cost savings, but more importantly, by making readers part of the news gathering community there will be more feet on the ground finding significant stories as well as heart warming community features.

Read more from Kyle and learn more about how to capitalize on user-generated content on your newspapers Web site, to go www.naa.org/ugcopportunities.

NAA Webinar: Online Video Advertising -- When, Where and How to Maximize Revenue

2008-06-30T13:16:00-04:00

Late last week, MediaShift blogger Mark Glaser wrote a solid piece on the state of online video advertising and ideas with promise, such as making ads useful and relevant.

Glaser wrote:

Local news sites also have an opportunity to sell and shoot videos in their communities to kick-start video ads. Eric Janssen, director of online for the Commercial Appeal newspaper in Memphis, ticked off the various video ad formats his site had tried: remnant ads with banner positions, sponsorships with pre-roll ads, customized content sponsorships, advertorial gift guides and content, pre-rolls, post-rolls and overlays. But what had worked the best?

The advertorial formats….

Find out why on MediaShift.

Want more information on online video advertising?

NAA is hosting a webinar about this subject with experts from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and Borrell Associates. More below:

Online Video Advertising: Where, When and How to Maximize Revenue
Thursday, July 17, 3 p.m. Eastern

Online video advertising is growing and changing – that much is clear. What’s less clear for newspaper companies is how to leverage this new medium to increase revenue. According to a 2008 Borrell Associates local online revenue survey, which studied more than 3,000 local Web operations, video is the fastest growing segment of local online advertising. Many newspapers are commanding this space in their local market, but there is plenty of room to grow. This event will include the latest information from Borrell Associates on the projections for online video advertising growth. You’ll also hear about some of the best practices in newspaper online video advertising that will help you maximize revenue at your own newspaper. Online registration will be available shortly.

Speakers:
Peter Conti, Senior Vice President, Borrell Associates, Inc.
Jeremy Fain, Senior Director of Industry Initiatives & Services, Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB)

Register here!

AP's Focus on Non-Print Content Causes Tension

2008-06-27T08:44:11-04:00

Online Publishing Update* for June 27, 2008

Publicis Group Links Google, AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo Ad Systems

Publicis Group unveiled a new digital media advertising system that links together Google, AOL, Microsoft and Yahoo ad space and allows advertisers to buy ads across the companies. The new project, called the "Open-Source Audience On Demand Network," is the first from Publicis’ new VivaKi Nerve Center, which focuses on advertising technology, Reuters reported.

Sources: Reuters, The Wall Street Journal

ICANN Approves Proposal to Increase Domains

Thursday, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers approved a plan that could create a huge number of “top-level domains”. “Businesses, for example, could use brand names such as .ibm or .ebay in their Web addresses. Cities could sign up for names like .nyc or .berlin. It will also be possible to apply to use more general terms, such as .news or .sports, to define sites associated with groups or categories of information,” The Wall Street Journal reported. The domains will come with a price tag of at least $100,000.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

American Airlines, Chrysler Test Wi-Fi

American Airlines will be testing out an in-flight Web connection with Aircell, The Los Angeles Times reported. American will charge between $9.95 and $12.95 for the service, depending on the length of the flight.

Car company Chrysler will make wireless Internet an option on all of its 2009 models through UConnect Web. Rental car company Avis already offers this option on some rental cars. Not surprisingly, safety experts are concerned and law makers are looking into legislating restrictions on surfing while driving.

Source: The Los Angeles Times

NYTimes.com, IHT.com May Merge

The New York Times will host an internationally-focused home page that may replace that of the International Herald Tribune. The move is part of a “bid to expand their global reach and deepen their appeal to advertisers,” The New York Times reported.

Source: The New York Times

AP’s Focus on Digital Media Causes Tension

Many newspaper executives are becoming frustrated with The Associated Press’ increasing focus on multimedia, especially because that AP content is going to online competitors such as Yahoo and Google.

The Wall Street Journal reported digital media outlets now account for 17 percent of AP’s revenue, and U.S. newspapers account for 27 percent.

“The diversification of its customer base has allowed the AP to bolster its newsgathering resources in areas like international news and finance at a time when the newspaper industry is downsizing,” according to the Journal. “But for many of the AP's newspaper members, this type of expansion is of little value. Most of the stories generated by the financial group wind up on sites like Yahoo Finance, MSN Money and CNNMoney.com.”

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Zillow’s Partnership with Newspapers Comes Online

Real estate Web site Zillow will roll out its partnership next week with The Philadelphia Inquirer, the San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News and Richmond Times Dispatch next week. The newspapers will start selling featured listings for Zillow.com to people who are buying real estate classified ads. More newspapers, including most of those in the Yahoo newspaper consortium, and more co-branded features will launch later this year, Editor & Publisher reported.

Sources: The Local Onliner, Editor & Publisher

Quote of the Day: Holovaty on Programmers and Journalists

“I believe it’s easier for programmers to become journalists than it is for journalists to become programmers, but both sides need to gain an appreciation for the other in order for this sort of thing to happen more often. Fortunately, some news organizations are starting to hire developers with this in mind, and some geeks are realizing journalism is a great, (mostly) pure field that lets you improve the world through information.”

-- Adrian Holovaty, founder of EveryBlock, in a recent interview.

Mobile Ads Influence Young Adults

Mobile video and text ads are much more likely to influence young mobile users than older mobile users, eMarketer reported. Electronics purchases are the most influenced by this type of advertising among both 18 to 24 year olds and older adults, but younger mobile users are much more influenced in this category.

Source: eMarketer

MySpace, MSNBC.com, NBC News Host Contest to Find Citizen Journalists for Conventions

MySpace is hosting a contest with NBC News and MSNBC.com to find citizen journalists to cover the political conventions this fall. “Entrants, who must be MySpace members who are 18 years or older, must answer one of the following questions via a video submission: Why do you vote? Why are you the best person for this job? How will you stand out in the crowd and get the scoop no one else can?" CNet’s News.com reported. Entries opened at noon (PT) Thursday and close on July 16.

Source: CNet

Web Plays Significant Role for Campaign Information

Nearly half of Web-using Americans (46 percent) have used the Web, e-mail or text messaging to get news about political campaigns, share their views or mobilize other people, according to a new Pew Internet & American Life Project report. Also, more than one-third of survey respondents said they have watched political videos online, a significant increase from 2004. Ten percent said they have used social networking sites to get information or become involved in a campaign.

Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project

U.K.’s Trinity Mirror Co. Launches YouTube Channels for Every Newspaper
The Trinity Mirror Co., which publishes several newspapers, is launching a YouTube channel for each one, The Editors Weblog reported. The newspaper’s editing systems upload video to YouTube automatically, eliminating the extra step for online producers.

Source: The Editors Weblog

*The Online Publishing Update is a thrice-weekly e-mail newsletter that is delivered to members of the Newspaper Association of America’s Digital Media Federation. It contains information about the latest in digital media that may be of interest to newspaper executives. It also frequently includes announcements on new NAA products and services.

To learn about other benefits of federation membership (and to join), click here. For questions about the OPU, please e-mail Beth Lawton.

Newspapers and UGC: Clear Opportunities from NAA Study

2008-06-26T14:03:00-04:00

The blogging has been light, admittedly, the past week or two because I’ve been working on this.

Yes, another report from the Edge – this time on user-generated content and a few Web 2.0 tools. Clark, Martire & Bartolomeo Inc. conducted a study for the Newspaper Association of America that looked at several types of UGC through the eyes of consumers in five U.S. markets: Atlanta, Denver, Milwaukee, Norfolk, and Tampa.

The study looks at current UGC and Web 2.0 tool usage in those markets, and – more importantly – identifies they type of UGC of most interest to consumers and the enhancements that will have the most impact on driving usage.

Unfortunately, featuring these UGC and Web 2.0 tools (and the enhancements that drive usage) aren’t enough. It’s the opposite of “If you build it, they will come.” This study found that if you build it and your site visitors don’t know about it, then they’re not going to use it.

With every type of UGC and with every Web 2.0 tool in this study, there was one central conclusion: Awareness of UGC features on a newspaper’s Web site has a definite, positive impact on future intent to use those features. This underscores the importance of involving the marketing department – and anyone who touches house ads, promos, photo captions, the newspaper site home page or any other bit of the site – in an awareness and outreach campaign.

The study is available at www.naa.org/ugcopportunities.

P.S. Next week, I’ll be excerpting from the opinion pieces we asked a few media gurus to write in connection with our report on UGC. We asked these people to write a page or two about where they believe the opportunities are for newspapers with UGC.

P.P.S. Tomorrow’s Online Publishing Update will be here on the Digital Edge blog.

Newspaper Video Draws Teens

2008-06-24T10:52:00-04:00

The Northwest News Group’s McHenryCountySports.com has done very well connecting teenagers to the newspaper company through a subject that interests them. The local prep sports site includes articles, comprehensive statistics and a lot of unique video, and it has has grown steadily more popular since it launched in 2004. Learn more about the site in this Audience Building Initiative report (available through Growing Audience).

Before you go grocery shopping this weekend, play with this innovative online feature from washingtonpost.com.

The Washington Post and washingtonpost.com set about covering the topic of childhood obesity in new ways that would help readers not only understand the issue, but help them tackle the problem head-on. A key part of this was the Virtual Grocery Store. The site features allows people to choose among similar products at a virtual store to see how careful shopping can make a significant dent in the volume of unhealthy ingredients brought home.

Learn more about this project in the latest Snapshot from the Edge, guest written by washingtonpost.com Lifestyles Editor Stacey Palosky.

And, last but certainly not least, take a look at our new report on user-generated content opportunities fof newspapers.

Awareness and familiarity are the main stumbling blocks to growing usage of user-generated content (UGC) and Web 2.0 tools on newspaper sites. As familiarity and awareness increase – through aggressive promotion – so will Web site visitors’ contributions and usage of newspaper UGC features.

These are the conclusions of a new report from NAA outlining specific opportunities for newspaper Web sites in these areas. The report is based on detailed surveys conducted in five U.S. markets about people’s familiarity with and usage of UGC features and Web 2.0 tools. (We'll have more about the report in a blog entry soon.)

The full report is available at www.naa.org/ugcopportunities.

247WallSt.com Grades Newspaper Sites on Quality

2008-06-20T10:31:00-04:00

247WallSt.com ranked and graded the top 25 newspaper Web sites on organization, multimedia and more.

The newspaper Web sites that got a solid A were….

The New York Times. The reasons: Lots of online-only features, many of its best (print) reporters and writers are also bloggers, and editors’ willingness to link to other Web sites. 247WallSt.com acknowledge the resources behind NYTimes.com were probably a factor in the quality of the site.

The San Francsico Chronicle. The reasons: Good navigation and “well thought out use of interactive features.”

The Detroit Free Press got an A-, as did the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Who got an F? No one. But the Sacramento Bee got a D- for limited multimedia features and disorganization. Other low grades (D) went to the (Newark, N.J.) Star-Ledger, The Dallas Morning News and the Chicago Tribune.

An explanation of the grading from 247WallSt.com:

The sites got ratings of “A” through “F” based on: 1) strength of content, 2) ease of use and navigation, 3) use of new web technology including comments sections, message boards, and multimedia, 4) lay-out 5) presence of a strong set of current advertisers, and 6) the size of their audiences based on measurements from the Compete website visitor database for April.

The most important conclusion from this review of online newspaper sites is how uneven the quality is from property to property. Some of the smaller papers which probably have modest resources have done an extremely good job of engaging readers, using the best tools of the internet, and putting up content which adds to the experience of the subscriber to the physical newspaper. Some of these sites are likely to draw multiple visits from the same person throughout the day, the Holy Grail of online content behavior. Other sites seem to be designed to keep readers away. There is clearly not much benchmarking going on in the online part of the newspaper industry, and with the increasing risk that more newspapers will fail, not using a standardized measurement of excellence for improvement is a real shame.

The “top 25” were determined by print circulation size. National newspapers, such as USA Today and The Wall Street Journal were not eligible.

I can (sort-of) understand taking out the “national” newspapers, but I’m starting to think that basing the “top 25” on print circulation numbers for any online-focused grades or awards makes less and less sense. There are other options, like ABC’s audience numbers (print and online), or Scarborough.

In part, the rationale is that the print product is still largely the financial basis for the online product. However, a site from a small newspaper could get a huge audience if the site is innovative, relevant and engaging to a broad audience.

Behind the Winning Entries: CincyMoms.com

2008-06-19T16:07:00-04:00

Weekly, now through the end of summer, I’ll be posting one of the winning Digital Edge Award entries from the 2008 awards. All the entries are available in the report “Behind the Winning Entries,” but posting them here over time may make them more digestible and spark ideas in your newsroom as different issues come up in your communities. Here’s our latest installment:

Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal reported Gannett will be making it easier for national companies to purchase ads across all of its moms' sites. CincyMoms.com is one of Gannett's sites geared at parents.

Most Innovative Visitor Participation (circulation 250,000 or more): CincyMoms.com – Cincinnati Enquirer

Entry submitted by:

James Jackson

Vice President, New Media and Product Development

The Cincinnati Enquirer

james@cincinnati.com

(513) 768-8000

Strategy: CincyMOMS.com is the most successful local moms Web site in the Gannett Company. In January 2007, we developed CincyMoms.com to provide a social networking and information portal for local mothers of children ages 17 and younger. The site is by, for and controlled by moms, who create conversations and connect with others in our local area for help, advice and social networking. The target audience, 280,400 local women ages 25-44 with kids, is a highly desirable demographic for our potential advertisers.

Creativity/Innovation: The key strategic innovation was to turn over control of the site to the audience, with a coordinator acting as moderator, mentor, arbiter, guide and advocatefor participating moms. Users generate almost all of the content and drive the content decision-making process. An example of such “collective control” includes a forum called “CincyMoms – the site” which is for posting suggestions, rants and raves about the site. It is the sixth most read of our 88 chat forums, drawing 132,721 views this year and generating 5,320 comments. Here we float ideas and get suggestions; their direction has played a pivotal role in the site’s success.

Another key strategy is collaboration with our newsroom on breaking news of interest to moms. Moms love to sound off on the latest news; the newsroom routinely embeds link to cincyMOMS discussions in Web stories, while CincyMoms runs headlines promoting discussions and linking back to the newsroom story.

In addition, when developing the site, we created technologies that let moms talk in our forums, from which hot topics are highlighted and promoted in “tag cloud” clusters that help moms quickly see the most popular conversations. We highlight our site coordinator’s blog and our wildly popular reader-submitted photo galleries.

We also developed 10 key core topics to group content and discussions, making all information easy for moms to access. CincyMoms.com users can also use their accounts to post articles, photos and events onto the Cincinnati.com network of Web sites, and these moms have posted many of the 25,289 user-submitted stories, photos and events we published on Cincinnati.com so far in 2007.

Adaptability: The site can be replicated by other newspapers. They must have 1) good readership and market data to define the demographic; 2) a strong editorial and advertising cooperation so both groups know how this audience can and will be sold and how the content will be highlighted; 3) online tools – message boards, tag-cloud software, blogging software and photo gallery tools – which are readily available either in the open source realm or available from vendors. The other key is a site coordinator who becomes the face, voice and advocate for Moms and their needs.

Impact: CincyMoms.com has been an unqualified success. Launched in January, the site has generated 12 million page views year-to-date, and now leads Gannett’s moms’ sites in traffic. The site has rapidly and rabidly developed into a diverse community of moms who feel a deep brand loyalty and a strong sense of ownership. As of October 2007, there were 17,438 conversations that comprise 169,083 posts and 9,502 registered users on CincyMoms. Moms who meet virtually on our site now meet in person weekly (with 68 such gatherings so far). Advertisers are lining up to buy sponsorships and ad positions on the site; we have acquired $344,275 in new business from 55 customers, including $169,786 from 46 new accounts.