Our Hometown, the leading Web-based community newspaper content management service, is now automatically generating income for its customers, thanks to a new "smart" advertising tool and a new unique online subscription model. In the company's three months of participation in an automated ad-serving program, Our-Hometown and its 45 client newspapers shared over $18,000 in new revenue.
The additional income is generated by a new patent-pending online subscription model as well as Google AdWords(TM) ads being served to Our-Hometown client sites through the new Google AdSense(TM) program. AdSense enables the Our-Hometown community newspapers to generate additional revenue while offering more value to their growing numbers of out-of-area readers. The new online subscription model allows Our-Hometown clients to increase revenues with subscriptions to their online edition without losing any web traffic.
In the case of the Google AdSense program, the text-based ads augment the local display ads from the newspapers' print editions, helping users find the commercial information they need. The program delivers ads targeted to the unique content of each individual page of the newspapers' Web sites; each time a surfer clicks an ad, the newspaper displaying the ad receives payment.
"We are excited to see the first three month's results from Google AdSense," said Stephen Larson, president of Our-Hometown.com. "The program has been a success for everyone involved, including our community newspaper clients. I think our customers will be very pleased with the effect to their bottom lines."
For Our-Hometown clients, AdSense is the latest in an arsenal of profit-enhancing programs. In fact, a recent study conducted by Our-Hometown found that the company's online forms, which allow Web surfers to subscribe to their local newspapers or enter newspaper classified ads from the Internet, are netting profits for Our-Hometown.com clients. Our-Hometown.com also features a patent-pending program that allows community newspapers to post local display ads from their print editions online.
"Between our own proprietary print ad technology and programs like Google AdSense, we are making it easy for smaller newspapers to enjoy a profitable Web presence," said Larson. "There has simply never been a better time to become part of the Our-Hometown.com network of community newspapers."
A detailed report on the new online subscription model, which unlike most models allows the public full access to the archives and protects only the current edition for online subscribers, is available here
