College sites attracting big advertisers

Cory Bergman March 15th, 2007

Advertisers like Pontiac and Wachovia have bought space on official college athletic sites during March Madness. “You have a great scale if you have a television spot on CBS, but maybe people aren’t tuned in, says Chris Hornberger, ad manager for Pontiac. “People are coming to their website and looking for information directly related to their school.” Pontiac bought ads on 50 college sites that are part of CSTV, the CBS-owned cable channel that also operates 250 official college sites. Wachovia bought direct with University of North Carolina and University of Virginia. This is just yet another example of the increasing fragmentation of local online advertising dollars. (WSJ sub. req.)