Online newspaper readers consume politics, jobs information

Marketers may receive a bigger boost from online newspaper ads by placing their ads on the right pages. Though this isn't a novel concept, many marketers aren't following the simple rule. How can you determine which pages get the most traffic? By doing your research.

by Kristina Knight

Take this report from comScore, which found that readers of the online version of the UK's "The Sun" were most interested in politicial articles and information about jobs. The Sun was the most-read online paper in the UK for the month of March. Roughly 4 million consumers signed on, accounting for 30% of the total newspaper pages consumed during the month.

“With 44 percent of the U.K.’s total online population accessing a newspaper website and viewing half a billion pages of newspaper content in March, it’s clear that the expansion of traditional print newspapers to the Internet is making a significant contribution to their overall readership,” said Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of comScore.

What are newspaper readers most interested in? According to the report, politics (337,000 readers) and job search (216,000) ranked at the top. These categories were followed by hobbies/lifestyle (211,000 readers), finance (207,000 readers) and car rental information (192,000).

By targeting the most-visited areas of newspaper websites, advertisers are more likely to reach in-market consumers to create a relationship with the consumer.