As the first newspaper group to compel recruitment advertisers to take ads on its websites when booking print ads, Northcliffe Media has attracted the ire of small, regional agencies. However, the move may become the norm as publishers seek to monetise their online operations.
Northcliffe reasons that, since jobs are second only to news as a driver to its websites, advertisers need to be there and it has introduced a ratecard with a higher entry point to reflect the broader reach.
For publishers, online classified appears to offer the surest way of both supporting digital expansion, and protecting the heritage of the regional press. Because Northcliffe's papers are leaders in many regional markets, it can dictate terms. Some big advertisers will inevitably soak up the extra cost, but many baulk at the publisher's demands. It has also introduced a 50p charge per ad to produce artwork for online inserts.
Client backlash
James Lancaster, head of media at recruitment agency TMP Worldwide, which spends £20m a year online, is braced for a client backlash. He regrets that Northcliffe presented the new policy as a fait accompli despite months of talks.
"They are the conservative end of a conservative market," he says. "They are late to the party and need to build their online presence."
Mark Rix, managing director of MEN Media Sales, is about to conduct an extensive survey of employers and jobseekers about the future of job advertising. He says the expansion of job websites - estimates suggest there are 15,000 UK online job boards - means publishers have to work harder to get their share of recruitment ads, MEN's biggest revenue stream, which has meant giving advertisers more choice. Offer advertisers online as well as print, and six out of 10 take it, he says.
Johnston Press grew online ad revenues by 20% last year. Chief executive Tim Bowdler says:"Print is still overwhelmingly the most important platform, but the website has more than four times as many unique users, and advertisers want to extend their reach."
Measurement issue
However, advertisers point to the lack of a cross-media metric to evaluate the efficiency of print and online combinations as a deficit in publishers' arguments. Newsquest claims to have got the ball rolling with Total Reach, its cross-platform ad package that aims to reflect the value of specific audiences.
Chris White-Smith, Newsquest's managing director, says: "Cross-selling is still quite clunky and a lot of people put a nominal amount of fixed price spend online that bears no relation to readership figures."
The biggest spender on regional press is the public sector, though revenues are down by a quarter in the past year. Peter Stadnyk, director of recruitment firm Sigma Marketing & Advertising, predicts Northcliffe could miss out further: "The Times Educational Supplement charges a third of the price, throws in online for free and every teacher reads it."
If their ads get pricier, the risk for publishers such as Northcliffe is that recruiters will take smaller slots and direct jobseekers to more details online - on their own sites.