by Tatiana Repkova

The Sankei Shimbun has launched new services for clients to designate specific page placements for their advertisements. The first such ads came out in its May 8 issue. The service, called Newspace, is intended to boost ad revenues by soliciting orders from smaller local businesses and enterprises.

The concept is similar to search engine-linked advertising on Web sites. Sankei teamed up with two other companies to set up an ad agency named Newspacecom Co., in late March to handle orders under the new system. As with search engine-linked advertising, which has become the mainstay advertising on the Internet, prospective advertisers can choose any page in the newspaper, ranging from business, sports or lifestyle pages, that can feature merchandise or services best marketed via newspapers.

Sumio Takenaka, the general manager of the Sankei's Tokyo general affairs bureau, was named the president of the new company. He said the new services will help boost advertising's effects by linking ads with page content. Fees for ad production are part of the overall insertion rates for advertisements. The standard rates stay the same, regardless of page-based for insertions. Sankei officials said that in the future, they would consider linking up via news content, along with a package deal involving other Sankei-affiliated newspapers and magazines. Orders via the Web site will be accepted starting in October, they said. NSK News Bulletin Online, http://www.pressnet.or.jp/newsb/; May 2007