Online Newspaper Network Forecasts Outcome of City Sites Vs. Newspaper Sites

Posted on February 25, 1998

Publishers, sales managers and Web masters for the San Diego Source and its partner newspaper websites, announced that the future of its online newspaper publications lies in expanding unique local content to increase banner advertising availability and to drive more traffic to the sites. The announcement was made at an Internet conference early last week.

"We are in the publishing business and our goal is to sell advertising," said Robert Loomis, chief operating officer for the San Diego Source. "To accomplish that goal The Source must redesign to meet the needs of both local and national on-line advertisers.

"What has struck home is the sheer mass of pages and information required to compete for Web advertising on a large scale. If a site wants to compete for advertising, it must increase its commitment to expanded content."

Research shows that small business that are online have faster sales growth (9.8 percent) than small business not linked (6.9 percent). Web purchases are on the rise, and in turn, on-line advertising budgets also are expected to grow. The San Diego Source at http://www.sddt.com is the Internet component of the San Diego Daily Transcript, the region's only business daily newspaper. The Source is updated throughout the working day with breaking news and data about San Diego.