An advertising director recently confided that the job was far simpler in newspapers' past boon times. The phones rang off their hooks; display space was popular and coveted. Classified teams fielded calls and checked fax machines for incoming copy bound for sections that thrived. Sunday circulars and weekly magazines were must-haves for subscribers, so advertisers clamored for a presence there. The ad director noted that back then, advertising sales were largely comprised of "taking orders" and coordinating with production. Sales and rhetorical acumen wasn't always necessary. The ads came to you, that ad director recalled.

  Today, the job description is much more complicated, and the measurements by which advertising sales professionals are judged are newly challenging. 

  I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Jim Busch for a PaperChain article this month. Jim is one of my favorite people in the Industry, a great mentor and one of the best speakers you will ever hear. I felt honored when he reached out and asked my input on selling against social media. 

  Social media and especially Facebook is a tremendous marketing tool for small and large businesses. But it's just one arrow in the growing quiver of marketing options. 

  I was talking with one of my major advertisers earlier this week. He commented on the volume of advertising we still have in our local weekly newspapers. He said we must be doing something right. We both agreed that many retailers jumped "all in" on digital a few years ago and are now starting to migrate back to traditional media as they sort out what does and doesn't work. It's always interesting as the more things change, the more they stay the same. 

  In this age of media fragmentation, true disruptors have to get away from the idea of interruption as a means of marketing. For advertising to work, you have to reach people where they are. You've got to pull, not push. 
  Did the above paragraph make any sense to you?
  You probably think it did. Because you've heard some variation of it -- from agency heads, CMOs, ad-tech guys, TEDx speakers -- about 6 million times in the last 10 years. You've heard it so often, it's become almost like a prayer or a hymn. You sit there, nodding your head, thinking, "That's right. Amen."
But does it actually mean anything?

  Local TV stations are plugging one of the last major holes in mobile video: streaming their news to phones and tablets. The move presents yet another challenge to cable and satellite providers, which are grappling with the widespread online availability of content. 
  This fall, 112 U.S. stations will begin streaming live newscasts through an app called NewsOn, one of several planned "over-the-top" offerings delivered online without a pay TV subscription.

  Google knowingly manipulates search results according to a research paper published Monday from several academics. The study presents evidence that the search giant sets out to hamper competitors and limit consumers' options. The paper lands as Google prepares to release its response to the European Union investigation, which rests on similar claims about Google's comparison-shopping product.

  The 19,600 employees of Gannett newspapers coming to work Monday will be working for a new company - untethered from growing and prosperous television stations and digital ventures.
  Retaining the Gannett name, the spin off company has well defined plans for digital transformation and for expansion by acquisition.

  Total U.S. advertising expenditures declined 4.0 percent in the first quarter of 2015 to $37.4 billion, according to data released today by Kantar Media, the leading provider of strategic advertising and marketing information. Digital ad spend flat, radio and television decline.

  As the number of active smartphone users worldwide is estimated to touch 2 billion in 2015, the preferred platform for watching videos is seeing a steady shift from desktops to hand-held mobile devices. A recent report from Ooyala, a video technology company claimed that video consumption over mobile phones has spiked by 127 percent in a year.
  From being barely devices to connect people on the go, mobile devices are steadily pushing the desktop PCs and connected TVs to oblivion.

  PubNative, the first API-based publisher platform 100% focused on native ads has announced this week the launch of full support for native ads displayed on the Apple Watch.
  The move comes as advertisers are starting to experiment with mobile devices and test custom formats for the Apple Watch, despite the fact that Apple is yet to release official stats on smartwatch sales.