Local online users prove to be involved and qualified audiences. For such advertisers, the choices mushroom. Hundreds of newspapers have their own sites, join Zip2 directories or cobrand city sites, and these face competition from television-station sites. America Online's Digital Cities, CitySearch, Knight Ridder's Real Cities and Sidewalk number among national city sites. Advertisers are hard pressed to distinguish one from another.
Newspapers pull, and especially well in concert with the online distribution of information.
The New York Times has become a poster child for super-qualifying online audiences. Knowing whom you reach is half the battle. The Times' ad reps obviously tout the advantages of targeting ads by demographic factors and areas of interest. Furthermore, because users supply the data, it's more accurate than data only inferred by what content users request. This principle was demonstrated in a campaign for New York City's Cellular Vision, a company offering high-speed wireless Internet access.