News sites embrace paid-search ads

Three old-media giants are taking up - or furthering their involvement with - the popular practise of placing relevant, search-based ads on their new media properties.

The Financial Times, Guardian Newspapers and Independent News and Media have all signed deals with Overture Services, a Yahoo! subsidiary, to use its Content Match product.

The product places on web pages advertiser links for products and services that are relevant to content of the page. For instance, if reading a story about London, Content Match would serve up advertiser links alongside the story for UK hotels or flights to London.

Content Match listings will surface on all channels of the Guardian Unlimited website (it already employs them on its Travel and Money channels) as well as on the Observer's website and on several areas of FT.com and the Independent and Belfast Telegraph websites.

Adam Freeman, head of commercial development at Guardian Unlimited, said in a statement that the deal is "further proof of how well this form of advertising works for online newspaper users".

Earlier this month, Yahoo! and Google settled a two-year court battle involving the companies' competing paid search services with Google agreeing to license several of Overture's patents.