Internet Changes Everything

Survey: Most Papers Now Offer Web-Only Help-Wanted

Survey: Most Papers Now Offer Web-Only Help-Wanted

By Jennifer Saba

Published: February 16, 2004

NEW YORK A new survey finds that 69% of the largest 232 newspapers in the U.S. now offer the option of Web-only help-wanted advertising for employers, compared with 45% in January 2003. The findings were released today by New York-based market research company Corzen Inc.

The significant increase illustrates that "a number of newspapers are making a transition from print-centric recruitment advertising to a strategy that encompasses both print and the Web in a meaningful way," said Bruce Murray, CEO of Corzen.

Most newspapers normally require that employers buy a print ad if they wanted to run on the Web, thus protecting lucrative print revenue. Employers can pay as high as $30 per line, with an average ad running between five and eight lines. And that's just for one day. It could cost a company about $700 to run an ad for one week in print at a large paper.

But the rise of Web-only recruitment sites like Monster and Careerbuilder forced many newspapers to rethink that approach. On average, those sites charge only $200 per month per ad with unlimited space. Now, many newspapers are charging competitive prices -- essentially $200 for 30 days.

Some papers are starting to price less in order to reap more, substantially increasing volume at a lower rate to make up the difference between print and online advertising. For example, some papers charge lower rates for jobs that pay $8 an hour or under.

The rise in recruitment advertising will also depend on the overall economic climate. "Historically, recruitment advertising has tracked general employment conditions pretty closely," Murray said.

February 16, 2004 at 11:16 PM in Web lifestyle | Permalink | TrackBack (28) | Top of page | Blog Home