Tom Foremsky highlighted my NewsAd concept in a July 24th post: 

From Press Release to News: Cutting out the independent media

One thing that I’d like to clarify about NewsAds: They are not an attempt to make an end-run around journalists.

To quote Todd Defren:  “The ‘Big Change’ is the recognition that journalists are Internet users…”

As internet users, journalists will have the opportunity to view NewsAds as well.  A NewsAd could reach a journalist directly, or perhaps a friend or colleague of a journalist might see the NewsAd and point it out.  As Tom states, “Readers respect independent media articles over those from a company, people still want to read stories.”  A NewsAd is one more way for journalists to become aware of a potential story.  This is especially critical for small businesses who don’t have large PR budgets and/or media contacts. 

Tom also speculates that journalists will not be likely to click on a NewsAd, however, I think that remains to be seen.  Journalists are curious by nature.  While surfing the Internet, if a journalist sees a NewsAd that interests them, they’ll be compelled to click.

To bring this point home, I’d like to highlight one more thing that I’ve discovered from my NewsAd research.  Almost all of the clicks are coming from websites that host Google’s AdWords.  This is known as Google’s Content Network.  The clicks are not coming directly from the Google Search page.

 

…Google’s content network, including sites and products with content relevant to what you are advertising.

 

Google has a huge content network.  Think of all of the websites that you visit everyday that feature ads from Google.  Those ads are tailored by Google to match the content of each website.  This means that your NewsAd will usually be featured on a website with content that is similar to the news in your release.

Because your NewsAd will be displayed on sites that feature similar content, you will be reaching out directly to people who are already interested in the type of news in your release.  Additionally, journalists who cover particular areas of interest may also visit these sites.  Because these ads are contextual, journalists who cover topics that are related to your news are more likely to be exposed to your NewsAd.

 

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