Here is some interesting new research published by the Center for Media Research:

Visitors to Newspaper Websites Hit High

According to a new report from the Newspaper Association of America, over 47.3 million people visited newspaper Web sites in September, the most in any month since NAA began tracking online usage in January 2004, taking into account home and work Internet usage. That represents 31.9 percent of all Internet users, and is up 15.8 percent from 40.9 million for the same period last year.

While the report does not track traffic to specific online content, the spike was likely bolstered by the high level of interest in coverage of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

NAA President and CEO, John F. Sturm, said "Newspapers are continuing to attract readers whether they're reading the traditional printed newspaper, a newspaper Web site, a free daily paper or another newspaper niche product. Not only is the overall audience growing for newspaper Web sites, but NAA studies have shown that they are often the leading local news sites in their markets..."

For the year's third quarter, the monthly unique audience averaged over 41.5 million, or 27.7 percent of all Web users. The time Internet users spend on newspaper sites also continues to rise as users' visits averaged more than 38 minutes during the quarter.

Newspaper Website Visits Third Quarter, 2005
Month	Unique Audience	Active Reach%	Page Views	Time Per Person (mm:ss)	Visits Per Person
Jul-05	36,629,290	24.4	1,499,998,064	38:52	6.88
Aug-05	40,620,431	27.0	1,649,028,864	37:39	6.66
Sep-05	47,378,321	31.9	1,925,737,160	37:52	7.41
Q3 Average	41,542,680	27.7	1,691,588,030	38:08	6.98
Source: NAA and NielsenNet//Ratings, October 2005

To see data for previous quarters, go to www.naa.org/thesource/23.asp

For more information from the NAA, go here.

Taking Online Circulars & Distributing Them Via Rich Media Ads

Read all about! Announcing PaperBoy - the new rich media expandable ad that allows a user to browse a retailer's localized circulars right within their current online page. PaperBoy ads will be distributed via leading national and regional publishers, and powered and served by PointRoll. The ads will be geo-targeted and will only be displayed on local news and portal sites.

All of the unique localized sale data that fuels the PaperBoy ads will be supplied by ShopLocal. At this point, the only potential clients that can utilize this breaking technology are those retailers that currently receive SmartCircular services from ShopLocal.

Gannett, Knight Ridder and the Tribune Company are now selling PaperBoy placements on their approximately 200 local news sites, which reach about 80 of Nielsen's designated market areas. USAToday.com and Yahoo! will also offer it, targeting the offers based on user registration data.

Read full article at Click Z

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Read full press release at ShopLocal, LLC

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Click here to see a demo example of a PaperBoy ad

Web -> to -> Store -> to -> Web

Multi-channel retailing is finding a new platform at ShopLocal.com, which this month launches a redesigned site that extends its web-to-store shopping model into e-commerce. The site, which has hosted local promotional content including store circulars and localized newspaper ads that shoppers can view by ZIP code, now also provides direct links to opportunities to buy the featured items online.

Read full article as published by Internet Retailer

Opening Statement - What is Web - to - Store (W2S) Marketing?

With the ever increased hype of the growing number of Americans that are online today (7 out of 10), the increasing penetration of high speed Internet connections, rapidly rising uses of rich-media application, there is no doubt that most retailers are still focused on e-commerce purchases. This just does not make any sense. Currently 96% of retailer dollars are still spent at brick & mortar businesses. This means all e-commerce purchases only account for 4% of retail sales.

What this simply but insightful statistic indicates is the vast majority of consumers prefer to research online but buy in a local store. The web is increasing becoming more localized which has resulted in a large increase of the quantity and quality of vertical shopping search services. These online players are attaching record numbers of smart, sophisticated shoppers who know what they want and are ready to buy.

The bottom line is, turning online browsers into in-store shoppers represents an incredible opportunity for smart advertisers and retailers.

This blog will attempt to keep its audience informed of recent research into the demographics and online behavior of shoppers who use the Internet to research their purchases, outlining the trends propelling the increasing importance of the Internet in the shopping process, and explain the best practices regarding how retailers can turn online browsers into in-store shoppers.