Wall Street Journal Investigation: Projo’s Parent Company Misled Advertisers on Billions of Ads
GoLocalProv Business Team
Wall Street Journal Investigation: Projo’s Parent Company Misled Advertisers on Billions of Ads
According to the WSJ, “In the case of Gannett, advertisers thought they were buying an ad on one Gannett site—very often the flagship USA Today—but actually purchased space on another, such as one of its many local outlets, according to ad industry researchers.”
“Gannett said in a statement that it provided the wrong information and that it regrets the error, which it said was unintentional. The publisher said its auctions still had some information, such as page URLs, that would enable advertisers and ad-tech companies to detect the true identity of the website where an ad was being placed.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe WSJ reports, "The error was added to Gannett’s ad systems by one of its employees in May 2021, and was detected and corrected by the company on March 4 as it worked with a partner to integrate new technology, according to Gannett executives familiar with the situation. They said the issue may have harmed Gannett’s business and that the company is determining whether it will issue refunds to advertisers."
"In another example observed by a Wall Street Journal reporter, Capital One and American Red Cross bought ads that seemed as though they would appear on the Sarasota Herald-Tribune website, based on the information provided in the real-time auction. In fact, the ads ran on the website of Ruidoso News, a biweekly newspaper in New Mexico. An American Red Cross spokeswoman said the organization was unaware of the issue. Capital One didn’t respond to a request for comment," added the WSJ.
The revelation comes after the newspaper conglomerate recently reported poor financial performances, cutting the days of print publication for some its newspapers across the country and the slashing of content.
Two weeks ago, the ProJo’s Executive Editor said a number of the paper's areas of local coverage will no longer be published.
Under the headline “Changes coming to the Journal,” David Ng announced the following:
“Starting March 1, The Journal will discontinue publishing event listings from arts and community groups, as well as People of the Move notices of hirings and promotions at area businesses and the guest lineups for the Sunday news shows,” Ng wrote on the ProJo’s website.
“We regret any inconvenience this may cause,” he added.
Projo's Parent Company Announced Financial Loses and More Cuts
Gannett announced last week its fourth-quarter financials. The company had yet another negative performance, losing more than $22 million.
In January, the Boston Business Journal reported Gannett will stop Saturday print editions at 136 newspapers nationwide.
According to BBJ:
"The nation’s largest newspaper chain is discontinuing Saturday print editions starting March 5 at more than half of its newspapers nationwide, saying it will instead offer “new, additional benefits” including expanded access to online editions.
Gannett Co. Inc. told staff in an email on Wednesday that it is 'introducing a new Saturday experience in 136 of our markets which transitions from delivering the Saturday print edition to providing exclusive access to the full Saturday e-Edition.'
According to the company’s most recent annual filing, it operates 253 daily newspapers across the country.
Sources told the Business Journal that while the chain’s two largest dailies, The Providence Journal and the Worcester Telegram and Gazette, will not be affected, most others will, including the Cape Cod Times, the Fall River Herald News and the New Bedford Standard-Times. Some of Gannett’s dailies, such as the Patriot Ledger in Quincy, have previously combined Saturday and Sunday print editions into one print product delivered on Saturday."