Advertising has changed dramatically over the past few years. From improvements in publishing technology to the proliferation of CD-ROM, print publishers are revamping their marketing strategies and tactics in an effort to remain competitive. Some go so far as to predict that this new media will cannibalize print advertising revenues.
Print suffers by comparison to electronic publishing in a number of areas.
The most obvious drawback is that regardless of how frequently a newspaper or magazine is published, print requires a tremendous amount of lead time. By the time the publication hits the streets, its news is already outdated. Electronic publications, on the other hand, bypass the whole printing and distribution process, going straight to the reader in a much more timely fashion. Perhaps an even bigger advantage for electronic publishers is their ability to differentiate content. Web sites can be tooled to actually create personalized newspapers on demand, readily displayed whenever a user returns to the page.