Commentary

Yahoo Pact Still a Work in Progress

Last November, Yahoo and a group of 176 newspapers nationwide announced a major alliance intended to boost online advertising on both sides. In its barest form, the deal would let newspaper advertisers post classifieds on Yahoo’s HotJobs while HotJobs would power the job sites on newspaper Web sites.

The pact ultimately envisioned a broader sharing of advertising and content between the Web portal and its newspaper partners. While newspaper executives remain tight-lipped about the venture’s progress, they’re generally pleased with online revenues being generated through the deal so far, according to Peter Zollman, founding principal of Classified Intelligence.

Zollman, who is preparing a report on the progress of the Yahoo newspaper group to date, says most participating newspapers have only integrated operations with HotJobs and Yahoo in the last few months. “Nothing surprising, but nonetheless none of this stuff goes as smoothly as it’s drawn up on paper,” he says.

Gains from the Yahoo partnership, however, won’t nearly offset the double-digit percentage declines in classified revenue on the print side. “There’s a lot of shifting to the Web for good reason,” says Zollman. “The Web works better for classifieds.”

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