Online broadsheet NYTimes.com and professional networking site LinkedIn announced today that they had reached an
agreement that will allow LinkedIn members to opt for automatic personalisation
of the news presented to them on the Business and Technology sections of NYTimes.com.
When the option is
selected, the LinkedIn user visiting the afore-mentioned pages on NYTimes.com
will see a targeted headline feature displaying the five latest Times articles relevant
to his or her non-personally identifiable attributes on LinkedIn. Also, the share tool available on all NYTimes.com
article pages will eventually enable Times readers to connect and interact with
LinkedIn members in their networks. The
option can be cancelled at any time.
Whilst bringing more
relevant information and further networking opportunities to users of both
sites, the new offering also provides advertisers with more precise targeting
capabilities than were previously available to them at either venue. Enhanced monetisation of site traffic is the
flip side of improved customer service.
Senior vice president and
chief advertising officer of The New York Times Media Group Denise Warren makes
no bones about this second aspect of the agreement, voicing the view that, ?Both
NYTimes.com and LinkedIn are leaders in targeting. This relationship expands NYTimes.com's
targeting capability and creates a powerful incentive for advertisers to
leverage LinkedIn's and NYTimes.com's combined reach of the business
community. Advertisers are constantly
looking for context, content and quality brands and this approach delivers just
that?.
The agreement reiterates both
companies? commitment to protecting their members? registration data, with the
user data communicated by LinkedIn to NYTimes.com restricted to non-personally
identifiable information such as industry, job function, seniority, company
size, gender and geography.