Nevertheless, the advent of the digital age has meant that circulation of daily newspapers across Europe and the Unites States has dropped dramatically in recent years - indeed, in many circles people are beginning to disparagingly refer to the print editions of newspapers as "dead tree" editions. As such, many newspapers are extremely anxious to capitalise on opportunities offered by the internet as their advertising sales slow, outshone by other forms of media - primarily the internet and television.
As such, Google and Yahoo! have recently been engaged in a furious bidding war to buddy up with various newspaper groups all over the United States - a war in which Yahoo! is performing well, having recently expanded its advertising deal to McClatchy Co, a newspaper group consisting of more than 264 newspapers.
Yahoo! has stated that it wants a much stronger placing in the local web ads market and closer ties with the newspaper industry across the United States. As such, it is willing to split ad revenue on a favourable basis, increasing market share at the expense of the bottom line.
The decision taken by the newspaper groups to work with Yahoo! shows that many of the traditional media have determined it is better to work with a company that has been technology based from the very beginning, with a large viewer base, rather than trying to do it themselves. Such attempts have never met with massive success in the US before.
Over the next 18 months, the newspaper sites will begin to incorporate Yahoo!'s graphical and banner advertising, as well as strongly integrate paid search links into the websites. This should be a wise move for both parties, as Yahoo!'s paid search service currently attracts over 50 million users per month. This deal can only increase their well-targeted traffic.
