THE NEWSPAPER WORKS BULLETIN: May 2015

A SIGNIFICANT increase in users is expected for Bid on Print over the next six months following the implementation of major changes to the advertising space exchange.

Bid on Print was introduced at the end of last year by The Newspaper Works in conjunction with media company Publisher’s Internationalé.

It functions like an auction website and is designed to besimple and straightforward to use. The aim is to make buying ad space in newspapers easier for agencies, and is open for participation by all publisher members of The Newspaper Works.

Publisher’s Internationalé CEO Charlton D’Silva said a “private exchange module” had now been completed. “This means that publishers can send offers to an individual or a group defined by the publisher, and agencies can also request specific inventory from specific publishers,” he said.

Bid on Print is free to use, and potentially opens a new line of revenue for publishers, as in the past agencies have seen buying newspaper ad space as challenging.

The platform can now also handle bundled buys, Mr D’Silva said. This means publishers can put up a sports package or a business package associated with those respective sections or inserts.

“We have also completed a system integration with billing systems on the agency’s side,” Mr D’Silva said.

“It will allow them to take a simple electronic file and drop it into their billing system, rather than having to manually enter it.

“We are working on getting publishers now fully equipped with using the system, and we’ve met all the major agency requests so we expect there to be a significant increase in platform usage over the next six months.”

Mr D’Silva told The Bulletin that Bid on Print is now a “complete package,” but that it will continue to evolve long-term in response to changing needs and requests from agencies.