ClickZ
Why can’t newspapers make money online? Simple, says Sean Carton: “Newspaper advertising costs too darn much.”
Carton refers to an analysis by comScore that cites the average cost per thousand impressions — or CPM — for newspaper websites as $6.99. Compare that to $2.52 for online advertising and just 56 cents for social media.
Print newspapers? Don’t even go there: They have an average CPM of $60, writes Carton.
Unless they can figure out how to pare down costs, price themselves competitively, and, more importantly, offer content that’s worth paying for (see The Wall Street Journal), desperation tactics such as paywalls are only going to hasten the inevitable decline.
The former dean of Philadelphia University’s School of Design and Media, Carton is now developing the Center for Digital Communication, Commerce and Culture at the University of Baltimore.
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