Here’s a change of pace: Some newspapers are making money online and crediting a search engine with making it happen. AdAge writes about the Yahoo-Newspaper consortium, and cites multiple cases where individual papers or newspaper groups are using Yahoo’s ad targeting technology to increase online-only ad sales.

The consortium has sold an estimated $50 million in Yahoo inventory so far, with about 150 papers using the platform and 350 more on the way. But what’s most impressive is some of the individual reports from happy newspaper people:

• Scripps newspapers report a 30% jump in online-only ad sales in the 1st quarter; “… our ability to sell behavioral targeting has really caught on with our advertisers and particularly with our sales forces,” Scripps says
• The Atlanta Journal-Constitution tripled inventory to cover 70% of the market, and can sell at higher rates because of Yahoo’s ad targeting
• Hearst Newspapers is also selling targeted ads at 15% premiums

This is the second positive report on the Yahoo-Newspaper consortium in recent months; we wrote about similar gains in early March.

Related Topics: Yahoo: Business Issues | Yahoo: Display Ads | Yahoo: Partnerships

About The Author: Matt McGee is Search Engine Land's Executive News Editor, responsible for overseeing our daily news coverage. His news career includes time spent in TV, radio, and print journalism. His web career continues to include a small number of SEO and social media consulting clients, as well as regular speaking engagements at marketing events around the U.S. He blogs at Small Business Search Marketing and can be found on Twitter at @MattMcGee and/or on Google Plus. See more articles by Matt McGee