Dave Evans of Forbes.com looks at why the form factor of newspapers is causing them so much trouble.
How traditional media makes money:
“The newspaper business has a simple model: charge advertisers for getting access to readers whom you attract with relevant content and cheap prices.”
The problem:
“Traditional media sell advertisers a pig in a poke. Advertisers don’t know whether a reader actually looks at their ad much less buys anything as a result. And they can’t really target their ads beyond picking a type of newspaper and section to focus on in the hopes of reaching a particular demographic group.”
How Google & online ads are better serving advertisers:
“Google and its ilk only charge advertisers when a viewer clicks on the very page containing their ad and perhaps, in the future, only when the viewer actually buys something. Plus, they can use all that information collected from past searches and other information they’ve gleaned about viewers to target ads with an increasing degree of accuracy.”