Behind the Numbers: NYT versus HuffPo

The New York Times generates about $15 million a month in advertising from its online site with 16 million monthly uniques, which translates into about $1 per unique visitor a month, according to Joe Pompeo at Business Insider.

Here's BI on HuffPo's earnings:

HuffPo made revenues of $12-15 million last year, a consensus estimate. Let’s say it might do $20 million in 2010, though that could be generous, given the tepid rebound. So $20 million would be an average of about $1.6 million a month. Thirteen million monthly uniques, $1.6 million a month would mean about 12 cents a unique visitor per month

My guess is that HuffPo's 12 cents per unique visitor is much more in line with most web site earnings versus the off the chart number by NYT, which is a testament to the value of an established name and a powerful advertising sales force.

HuffPo apparently gets this. BI again:

Web traffic for The Huffington Post, which turned five on Sunday, is massive—in February, it rocketed past 40 million unique monthly viewers, according to one metric. (Nielsen put it at 13 million uniques in March.) But the site has yet to turn a profit.

That's about to change, according to CEO Eric Hippeau, who tells MediaWeek that HuffPo will become profitable in 2010 for the first time since it launched on May 9, 2005...

How are they gonna pull it off?

For one thing, they're building up their sales team. Since coming on last September, Coleman's brought on 18 "experienced sales executives" who have scored deals with big advertisers like General Electric, Siemens, Mercedes, HP, IBM and Discovery....

The Huffington Post Valued At $200 Million

What's the value of your blog, the Huffington Post appears to be valued at $15 per visitor.

NYT's Brian Stelter reports:

When Ms. Huffington, the 57-year-old author and former conservative pundit, announced her plans for The Huffington Post three years ago, many critics dismissed the idea as a digital dinner party for her new liberal friends. But it has grown in ways that few, except perhaps Ms. Huffington herself, expected.

In February, The Huffington Post drew 3.7 million unique visitors...

According to one person who was briefed on discussions but was not permitted to speak for attribution, the company has at least looked at the value of the site if it were put up for sale, and a figure around $200 million was used.That would put the price at more than $50 for each visitor, a high valuation. Using the site’s internal figures, 14 million unique visitors for the most recent month, the price would be closer to $15 for each user.

Huffington Post Doesn't Pay Its Bloggers

Could that change at some point? "Sure. But it feels very 1993," said Huffpo CEO Betsy Morgan , in an interview.