Top Of The News, Online: Hopefully, It All Ads Up

Now that we know the 10 Most Endangered Newspapers in America, there's no holding back on the grab by publications of all types for what ad dollars there are out there -- even if includes the selling of the top of the front page.

Online.

it was only January 5 that the New York Times started putting display ads at the bottom of its front page in print.

But what was this, one week ago, fixed in place above the lead news stories on the Times' home page?

A display ad from Apple. Its green computers met the Times' test for green stuff these days. Meaning: Dollars definitely needed, from anywhere.

But lest you conclude the Gray Lady is desperate to avoid being tired, just look at Wired, this week.

Same thing.

Maybe there have been outcries about editorial purity. After all, this is giving top placement in the most prime of real estate to advertising, over the stuff that these sites are supposed to be about. These display ads hit you right between the eyes before you can possibly scroll down to see what is actually "on" the site, its substance.

But I haven't heard them. The quiet you hear is the hope that these icons of print journalism figure out a model they and their readers can live with online. And still get the substance.

Hey, you might argue that it's noticeably better than putting a house ad over the front page of one's site, like our sister site (Tech Republic) on occasion is found to do.