- Jennifer Saba, Editor & Publisher

NEW YORK The New York Times began selling front-page display ads, a first for the paper.

CBS placed the ad this morning, which runs along the bottom, in color and about two inches high.

The paper has sold small-classified liners on the front page prior to this move, but decided to sell display ads in such a desirable position because of declining advertising revenue. The paper will only sell front-page ads below the fold. Ad revenue throughout the industry has been plunging.

The Times has been selling front-page section ads for the past couple of years. "This high-impact placement represents an exciting new opportunity for our advertisers," said Denise Warren, chief advertising officer for NYT Media Group.

Beth Fidoten, svp, director of print accounts at Initiative, said that while in general many newspapers do not charge much more for such placements, they provide a good incentive to get advertisers to commit to multiple ads. The paper would not disclose the price of a front-page ad.

The company reported that advertising revenue in November fell almost 21 percent.