NNN to Offer Online Buys Through Global Network

Global Network, Inc. stands to gain through a partnership agreement with the National Newspaper Network, a major player in the print ad sales world.

The partnership, of which terms were not disclosed, aims to create an easy way for advertisers to buy online and offline advertising in U.S. newspapers and their Web sites.

The New York-based NNN, a unit of the nonprofit Newspaper Association of America that sells national ads in U.S. dailies, is funded by the 47 largest-circulation daily papers. Through the deal, the agency will begin selling online media, which will be placed using Global Network’s system.

Alley-based ad network Global Network focuses on selling vertical-based inventory across a network of sites — specifically, those of more than 300 daily newspapers. The company sells and serves vertical-channel buys across newspapers’ sites, and provides tools for buyers, agencies and advertisers to manage their campaigns.

According to terms of the agreement with NNN, Global Network will place NNN’s online media buys, track campaign results and handle reporting to the agency’s clients.

“We provide the technology and online infrastructure that NNN can effectively leverage through its sales force to its marquis client base,” said Global Network chief executive Jim Mason. “We look forward to working closely with NNN’s sales force to provide its clients our sophisticated media placement and tracking software available for online newspaper properties. We strongly feel that newspaper publishers and their online properties will be a great beneficiary of our partnership with NNN.”

The deal is a plus to both firms. Global Network, which nets a major partner that boasts clients including Kraft Foods and Microsoft, gains a leg up on competitors in the space, which has largely relied on dot-com advertisers. The firm competes with similarly propositioned PowerAdz.com, in addition to other rivals for the newspaper Web site ad dollar, like online classified network AdOne.com.

NNN, for its part, gains the ability to offer geographically-targeted online media buys in addition to print ads, and to place those ads within the same purchase order.

“We’ve been looking to work with an online counterpart to deliver a one-stop-shop for an integrated advertising network that creates one blended CPM, one order and invoice,” said NNN president and general manager Nicholas Cannistraro, Jr. “This new service directly addresses a market demand from our clients, including ad agencies and national advertisers, who have expressed strong interest in extending their current print advertising into Internet publishing properties.”