Media buyers place orders with NICC by logging on to the company's Web site, submitting a graphic file of the ad, and checking off a list of newspapers where it should be placed. The system then automatically distributes the order and graphic file to the selected newspapers. Simultaneously, NICC prepares a single bill for the buyer that covers all ads made on a single order. NICC also e-mails the newspapers to notify them that they have new orders to pick up on the NICC site. Once the ads have run, NICC collects the printed hard copies to show that the promotion was published and sends them in a single package to the buyers.
Advertisers use the service free of charge.
NICC already is facing a fair amount of resistance from the newspapers, which are unsure of the value of a purely Web-based system. The Los Angeles Times , The New York Times , and the Chicago Tribune are all still considering whether to sign up. If they don't, that could be a crippling blow to the venture. You can't advertise nationally without Chicago. Newspapers have good reason for concern.