Globe will sell space for ads on front page

The Boston Globe will soon join a growing number of newspapers nationwide that are selling front-page advertisements as a way to generate additional income.

Globe spokesman Bob Powers said today that the newspaper will start publishing front-page ads during the first quarter of this year, but is still working out the details, such as price, size, and location on the page.

The news comes two days after The New York Times Co., which owns the Globe, said it would sell front-page advertising and published an ad across the bottom of its flagship paper, The New York Times.

In recent years, some of the biggest US newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal and USA Today, have been running front-page as the industry battles revenue and circulation declines and readers migrate to the Internet.

Powers said the Globe’s management team ‘‘continues to work closely’’ with the parent company on formulating similar standards for front-page ads, but the decision to sell front-page ads in the Globe was made independently.

‘‘Newspapers have to come up with more innovative offerings to advertisers and leverage the strength of the print product,’’ Powers said. ‘‘It provides a premium position for advertisers.’’

The Globe has not displayed front-page advertisements in several decades, but it has sold advertising on other section fronts in recent years.
(By Jenifer B. McKim, Globe staff)