New route to classifieds: A screen at the Princeton Packet Inc. group of newspapers lets a classified ad buyer schedule run dates and see what the cost will be. The site is helping to test software from Ad-Star Services Inc.

On-line entry of classified ads enters a new phase at papers

The World-Wide Web is custom-made for newspaper classifieds.

Instead of perusing column after column of fine print for yard sales in a particular neighborhood, or searching several newspapers for fine and rare Furbys, users can accomplish these tasks on-line in searchable, updated classified databases -- for less than the price of a Sunday paper.

The utility of placing traditional print ads on-line goes beyond that of one newspaper in one market. In many cases, classified databases are pooled together, enabling job hunters, for example, to search for specialized openings in several markets at once.

But while newspapers are eager to publish their classified databases on the Web for free, they are seemingly unwilling to provide a ready way to grab users' advertising dollars. Users can surf and search classifieds to their heart's content, but newspapers have perversely discouraged them from inputting paid ads via the Web.

Most newspaper classified sites provide instructions on how to place ads, but then often send users to a clunky forms interface that provides the classified department with minimal information about the ad, resulting in a follow-up phone call.

Secure transactions are, in most cases, a pipe dream.

To be fair, most newspaper call centers are busy enough without having to field Internet inquiries. And, until recently, classified system suppliers were not equipped to deal with the Internet.

Now, heeding the call of users who are demanding a more sophisticated product, several newspapers are ramping up systems that enable one-stop classified ad entry via the Web.

Direct web entry in demand
Customer demand drove the Star Tribune of Minneapolis to upgrade to a web entry system, said Ad Production and Capabilities Manager Amy Hutsell.

In January 1998 the paper received 211 ad requests on its old forms-based classified site. In October, the number was 590. "We're having quite a growth," Hutsell said. "We're averaging 11 percent month over month."

In January, the Star Tribune's site (http://www.startribune.com/) began beta testing private party automotive classified ad placement using the Internet Publishing System AdOnTime product from FutureTense Inc. of Acton, Mass. Hutsell said integrating the direct-entry capability with the newspaper's front-end system from Atex Media Solutions of Bedford, Mass., was relatively simple because it was an upgrade from Adfast, a PC-based remote ad entry product from FutureTense.

AdOnTime enables advertisers to use a web browser to call up ad entry forms, fill in the fields in the form, select the schedule and format, and electronically submit the ad to the newspaper. Linking into the newspaper's front-end classified system, AdOnTime confirms the ad size, run dates, price and status, and displays a draft of the ad in a format similar to how it will appear in print and/or on-line.

Forms are tailored for different advertising categories, and according to whether an advertiser is contract, private party or transient.

Pat Sorn, the product manager for FutureTense's advertising products, said AdOnTime can be customized in a number of ways to fit a newspaper's needs, but is intended as a standardized approach to classified ad entry in order to minimize newspaper and advertiser learning curves. Built-in ad style templates are intended to eliminate the need for marking up text, but the system can also accommodate advanced or eXtensible Markup Language (XML) markup for contract advertisers with special needs.

"It's increasingly difficult to keep advertisers trained, and with the Web, you can't train private party advertisers," said Sorn, explaining the need for the ad style templates.

The demand for direct ad entry via the Web is increasing. The Boston Globe is upgrading from Adfast to AdOnTime, which was also recently purchased by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "Most newspapers with on-line classifieds have received requests (for this service) from advertisers," said Sorn.

Private party advertisers appreciate the ability to place ads day or night, and in markets other than their own, she said. Direct ad entry via the Web enables contract advertisers to "take charge" over their ads, eliminating errors.

Another advantage of the system is that it pre-parses information for an on-line classified database such as Cars.com. Theoretically, newspapers could tailor AdOnTime entries specifically to an on-line database (including, for example, registration and VIN numbers, which might not be in a print ad) and not even send the ad through the classified front-end.

Because AdOnTime uses the same remote ad server as Adfast and FutureTense's AdFAX product, upgrades for existing clients are relatively seamless, irrespective of their front-end classified system.

Sorn claimed a short ramp-up even for non-FutureTense clients. "There is very little difference -- maybe a couple of more days to tune the host interface. That is, unless we have to work on an entirely different classified system we haven't done before -- then it can be an additional week or two depending on whether there is an API on the classified system."

FutureTense has developed interfaces with several front-end systems, including those made by Atex, System Integrators Inc. of Sacramento, CText Inc. of Ann Arbor, Mich., several versions of systems made by Harris Publishing Systems Corp. of Melbourne, Fla., and some home-grown systems, Sorn said.

A logical step
Like the Star Tribune, the Arizona Republic didn't take much convincing to upgrade its site's ad-taking capabilities.

Dena Greenawalt, the Phoenix paper's technical development manager for publishing, said the move was a logical step in meeting advertisers' demands: "This was a natural progression for us."

Direct ad entry went live on the Republic's web site (http://www.azcentral.com/) in October. Focusing on private party ad placement, the Republic started with the merchandise and yard sales categories, and added the capability for private party auto ad placement in January.

The Republic's intention was to keep the system simple in its early stages by offering it only to private party advertisers, Greenawalt said. While AdOnTime can provide account information and separate rates for contract and transient advertisers, she doubted they would use it as much.

"If you go into a [car] dealership you will be hard-pressed to find a sales manager who is overly web oriented," she said.

Applying that philosophy, the next category to be launched is private party employment. Only after all private party categories have been set up will the Republic integrate contract advertising information into the system.

The Star Tribune and Republic can both be described as "cautiously optimistic" about their AdOnTime systems. Both see the value of marketing the capabilities, but are reluctant to make a splash until all categories have been launched successfully. Greenawalt said the Republic's aim was to prove the concept rather than set up high advance expectations.

Nevertheless, said Karen Parrilla, the Republic's principal applications specialist, the system appears to be working, with more than 500 ads input since October and a "huge surge" with the automotive launch.

"For the user population," she said, "it's been a real effective tool."

Ad networks add capability
Another remote advertising veteran that has recently entered the world of direct input via the Web is Ad-Star Services Inc. of Marina del Rey, Calif.

Known for its PC-based remote ad entry system and largely serving the recruitment industry, Ad-Star has recently partnered with two national classified networks, AdOne LLC of New York and PowerAdz.com LLC of Rensselaer, N.Y., to provide its web-based ad placement capability to affiliates.

Ad-Star COO Adam Leff said that between PowerAdz and AdOne, which owns ClassifiedWarehouse.com, more than 1000 daily and weekly newspapers will have the capability in the first quarter of 1999. He emphasized the product is as much a service for newspaper affiliates and advertisers as it is a technology.

Unlike AdOnTime, which interfaces directly with a classified front-end, Ad-Star maintains pricing and line endings (hyphenation and justification) on its own server, which requires constant maintenance.

Along with rate maintenance for newspapers, Leff said, the Ad-Star system provides advertisers the opportunity to place an ad in multiple publications.

In a release announcing his company's partnership with Ad-Star, AdOne President and CEO Brendan Burns said, "Throughout AdOne's open network, web consumers can place print and on-line classified ads at the local level on their newspaper's web site, regionally with other AdOne affiliates' sites, or nationally at the ClassifiedWarehouse.com consumer site."

Both FutureTense's AdOnTime and the Ad-Star system enable a variety of functions for consumers seeking to place classified ads on the Web. Depending on how a newspaper customizes the product, advertisers may choose from a series of attention-getters and schedules for their ad.

Michael O'Hara, general manager of the Princeton Packet Inc., a publisher of a group of 13 community weeklies in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, said the key for newspapers is to structure the options so the buy is an automatic upsell.

"My concern is human intervention. Part of your real gross product is in that," he said. Without input from a live sales person, there is a risk of losing the opportunity to upsell. O'Hara said the solution at Packet OnLine (http://www.pacpub.com/), an Ad-Star test site, will be to provide only those options that enable upsells, such as longer print runs and multiple publications.

Moving to direct entry via the Web is especially logical for a company such as Princeton Packet, which for several years has upsold its print ads on-line, rather than providing on-line placement as an added value. O'Hara said up to 70 percent of print ads are upsold, providing a significant revenue stream.

While he didn't know how widely the system will be used, O'Hara said it provides another option for Internet-savvy advertisers. "It further opens up the channel another notch," he said. "We don't want to turn away any business, obviously."

Like other early adopters in this new method of accepting advertising, Packet OnLine will start with a soft launch. "We will have to promote it," said O'Hara. "But we want to make sure it's working first."

Packet OnLine will launch the system across all categories, but will concentrate on private party ads and the help wanted categories. O'Hara said recruitment agencies are already comfortable with placing ads through Ad-Star.

Because the Ad-Star system has no direct interface with the paper's classifieds front-end, O'Hara said, incoming ads will be handled as if they are computer or hard copy fax orders.

Enhancing revenue opportunities
Phoenix's Parrilla said that at the Republic, AdOnTime's integration with the classified front-end results in fewer errors than regular ad-taking.

"To me," she said, "it's clean revenue. If we are guiding the user through the pages, we're not writing adjustments, because the user owns the material."

Greenawalt said taking ads via the Web creates some operational issues. In a given week, the newspaper receives between five and 50 e-mails about the system, ranging from support questions to suggestions about new categories and features. Because the Republic has deliberately streamlined the current process, not enabling some of the more advanced AdOnTime features, most queries are from users wanting more functionality, instead of from people who don't understand the system.

No matter what the query, however, someone has to deal with e-mails and calls about the system, Parrilla said. The Republic's call center staff are trained to respond to users who have questions.

"Call center team leaders have done a fine job of training staff so they can facilitate users through the pages," Parrilla said. "They think it's a great deal, because it gives them an opportunity to upsell on calls that are actually getting in."

Combining upsell opportunities on the Web while freeing up call center staff to concentrate on selling more to those who continue to place ads the old-fashioned way is the ideal of newspapers adopting direct entry via the Web. The proportion of ads taken over the Internet will almost certainly increase, as users realize they are no longer beholden to telephone wait times and come to understand the quality control benefits of direct entry over human intervention.

Early adopters of this technology are all too aware of the potential negative aspects of losing control over the sale. By instituting built-in controls such as forced buys, they are attempting to minimize that risk.

Overall, newspapers with direct classified entry over the Web appear to be encouraged about the potential. Greenawalt said newspapers should seriously assess this technology soon.

"Any paper that's not considering doing this," she said, "is not looking at how their classifieds are going in the next year."

-- Susan Cook

Ad-Star Services Inc., (310) 577-8255, e-mail: adstar@adstar.com;
FutureTense Inc., (978) 635-3113, e-mail: info@futuretense.com.

From THE COLE PAPERS, April 1999, Copyright © 1999, All Rights Reserved.