New York Times opens up to Mom and Pop advertisers

The New York Times has opened up a self-serve ad platform
for a series of citizen journalism websites which fall under its hyper-local
‘The Local’ domain, covering east coast boroughs from New York to New Jersey.

Local “mom & pop” businesses, such as plumbers
or restaurants, can now advertises on an NYTimes.com affiliate website for a
fraction of the price.

The company said it plans to charge about $5 CPMs, compared
to the starting $30 CPM rate to advertise on the larger New York Times website.

The Local, which was launched in February, made a point of
building up an audience before offering advertising slots to local businesses,
but admitted that “the folks at The New York Times know more about great
journalism than we do about hyperlocal advertising markets”.

The incremental revenue stream will provide little solace to
the company, which has been publicly struggling under its debt load for the
past year, at least until it can figure out a paid-for subscription model
without turning away readers.

The New York Times Company is expected to publish its
second quarter earnings later today.