Almost every major news outlet now invests in buying search keywords through online auctions, according to the Wall Street Journal. The practice has received renewed attention in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings, with search terms like "Virginia Tech shooting" and "Virginia Tech massacre" climbing to a cost of $5 per click before settling in at less than 10 cents per click the week after. The Journal also reports that some news organizations are buying search keywords to highlight features on their sites that produce more revenue, like video.
Rall, whose award-winning cartoons appear in many AAN papers, including the Village Voice and Washington City Paper, has reached another milestone: becoming a clue in the New York Times crossword puzzle. As noted by Editor & Publisher, the Jan. 20 puzzle featured the clue "editorial cartoonist Rall." On his blog, Rall said, "That really is kind of amazing to this boy from the Ohio burbs. On the other hand, it is a pretty damned hard puzzle."
