The newspaper industry has launched an industry-first private exchange to buy print advertising.

To be known as Bid on Print, the exchange begins trading with more than 140 newspaper titles available to media buyers across Australia with advertising opportunities that can be booked online for the first time.

The site has been created by The Newspaper Works and Sydney-based company Publisher’s Internationalé.

The Newspaper Works CEO Mark Hollands said Bid on Print was designed specifically to sell newspaper print inventory.

“We are creating commercial efficiencies for both media agencies and publishers,” he said. “Media agencies can bid and book a print advertisement with a click of the mouse.”

This efficiency also gave publisher sales teams the opportunity to focus more time on premium solutions for advertisers.

“Bid on Print gives sales teams the opportunity to focus on higher-value, strategic commercial engagements. Commercial relationships between publishers and their advertising partners are becoming increasingly complex with the integration of print and digital campaigns, combined with new services such as events, data and content marketing,” Hollands said.

Bid on Print has already transacted more than $350,000 during publisher trials with agencies.

Bid on Print is not a programmatic or real-time bidding exchange. Instead, a publisher selects inventory, applies a floor price and then sets a timeframe in which the ad must be bought. Buyers then bid with the highest offer winning, or they can simply click a “Buy Now” button.

Hollands said: “We have made the system as simple as possible to appeal to buyers and planners, and make the transaction quick and simple.”

Publisher’s Internationalé CEO Charlton D’Silva said trials over the last few months had proven successful.

“Feedback from media agencies suggests we have reduced to just a few minutes what took them hours to do previously, especially for campaign-scale purchases. Newspaper publishers see the benefit of helping to create efficiencies for agencies and have keenly supported the initiative,” he said.

Mediabrands chief investment officer Victor Corones said: ”I’m a big fan of encouraging industries to find ways to improve and streamline the buying process for agencies and their clients.  Bid on Print is a great initiative.”

TMS is one of the agencies piloting Bid on Print. TMS retail engagement director David Lodge said: “TMS is proud to be the pilot agency on Bid On Print and to have worked with Publisher’s Internationale in its development. Bid On Print brings ‘old school’ buying nous together with a ‘new world’ open market mentality. If this is embraced by the industry as a whole, we will see a new era in efficient and transparent transactions in print and potentially in other channels.”

Hollands said that while The Newspaper Works had been an integral partner in establishing Bid on Print, it was up to each individual publisher to participate.

“We are simply providing another commercial option for publishers and media agencies to work together,” he said. “There is no obligation on any member publisher to participate in Bid on Print. That’s a commercial decision that is made by each publisher individually.”

Publishers are able to see only their own inventory lists and have no visibility of their competitors’ offering.

Agencies and publishers can create their own hierarchy of transparency and transacting limits for staff within their organisations.

Each publisher has an individual commercial relationship with Publisher’s Internationalé, and there will be no cost impost on media agencies, which will be provided access on application.

Hollands said: “The fact that publishers can state and enforce a minimum price means there is no question of pricing being forced below a level the publishers are prepared to accept. That can happen with programmatic trading but not on this exchange.”

Bid on Print will feature emma readership data to provide important demographic information for every purchase, plus CRM calculations.

Bid on Print chief technology officer Ganesh Prasad said: “This new exchange offers advantages to all players because it creates a liquid market that offers transparent deals.