Startup PaperG wants to fill the advertising niche within the local media niche. Founded by a group of Yale University students, the two[year old company has raised $1.1 million in its second round of funding to build out it's two advertising networks.

The first is FlyerBoard:

"[...] Flyerboard is a virtual bulletin board on which businesses can post flyers to advertise their services and events. It gives local businesses an intuitive, inexpensive vehicle to attract customers, and provides for many their first foray into online advertising.“

And when the company says “bulletin board” they’re not referring to the BBS’s or online forums. The service looks like the good ‘ol bulletin board you might find in town center or in your local coffee shop.

PaperG’s second network is PlaceLocal which will provide self-service, rich media display ad units which, unlike the FlyerBoard ads, sounds like it will take advantage of standard IAB ad units. (Note: Ad unit sizes have yet to be confirmed.)

PaperG has a number of prestigious media companies it calls clients including Hearst Corporation, Boston.com, Houston Chronicle, San Francisco Chronicle and New York Newsday to name a few and now it has a group of presigious investors.

Participating in the recent financing round were Stephen Taylor, publisher of the Boston Globe’s Boston.com during its first five years of existence, Mark Potts, co-founder of WashingtonPost.com, AppNexus CEO Brian O’Kelley, among others.

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Hyperlocal Media Gets Nichier: PaperG Raises $1.1 Million for Local Ad Networks is a post from: TechStartups.com

This conversation about the next web and putting content up for sale through exclusivity has been a hot button issue for the last few days and worth some more thought. Notice I said, ‘exclusivity’ and I’m not calling it scarcity – because it’s not. Nor am I calling it a ‘paywall’.

‘Paywall’ being the prevailing label for this shift as media companies and independent publishers attempt to stay afloat and producing content by opening their doors to those that have paid admission. I will occasionally refer to it as such. I will also refer to it as patronage.

Like the arts or the movement to support local business, publishers of all stripes need revenue to produce content from information they have. If that revenue comes from their public supporters, so be it.

As an example, we pay admission to movies, concerts and meetups because we have an understanding that if we don’t there won’t be any more of them. Theaters would go away. Bands would lose their main source of income. Meetups would disappear or be held in some nerd’s basement with room for five people and a big OSHA FAIL.

The value that we find in the art of entertainment or having a few drinks with friends that share our common interests is measured first by the price of admission. It is measured second by the amount of pleasure we receive from the information, conversations and moving images.

Information is art. Information is a common interest. Businesses that are in information verticals require patronage.

Does this mean that all information needs to be paid for? Yes. Paid for by you? No.

There needs to be balance in the argument that content and information want to be free. They can be free to consumers, but someone has to pay for them. Whether is through advertising dollars, paid partnership or subscription fees, the production of the content from information is a cost. Content wants to be syndicated, not free.

Those that argue that content wants to be free can have their cake and eat it too if the places that they choose to get it from are covering the costs of production or aggregation. And in this case it is free to consumers if the business at the end point is covering its operating costs with advertising dollars, lead generation or other model.

But if the content is direct to consumers, patronage is the only way to guarantee that even a small portion of it will exist in a few years. Else, you should get used to content solely full of information about the stars you pay to see on stage and screen.

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lolololori/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

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Content Wants To Be Syndicated, Not Free. is a post from: TechStartups.com