Bills would allow ads on more state agency websites

OLYMPIA — Thousands of times every day someone visits the websites for the state’s parks system and lottery and flips through several online pages.

Now leaders of those two agencies want to reap a little revenue from all those clicks and state lawmakers seem willing to let them try.

Bills moving rapidly toward votes in the House and Senate would allow the agencies to sell ads on their sites, joining the state’s Department of Transportation and a growing crowd of public entities across the country monetizing their websites in this manner.

Click on the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles homepage and you might be greeted by a banner ad for an insurance company. On the site of the Cook County Assessor in Illinois you can find someone to prepare your taxes or satisfy your fix for M&Ms.

Those two along with Washington’s transportation department contract with Municipal Media Solutions of Chicago, an ad broker that specializes in finding advertisers for government websites.

Bob Hoyler, the firm’s president and chief executive officer, said more and more entities are exploring the use of online ads to bring in additional revenues though not making the move rapidly.

“It is pretty much at the beginning,” he said. “I think it will become more of the norm but not overnight,” he said. “Over a period of time it is going to be fairly commonplace.”

Washington eased into it in 2009 by approving a pilot project for the DOT, which at that time recorded 410 million page views a year.

Today, ads are not sold on every page. Rather they appear only on heavily visited ones containing traveler and traffic information. This includes pages for Washington State Ferries.

After a slow start, the program is generating about $8,000 a month, said Tonia Buell, communications manager for the Digital Advertising Pilot Project.

“We’ve been very conservative about our approach,” she said. “It’s worked out pretty well.”

State parks and the lottery would each like to mimic such success though for much different reasons.

Lawmakers have made clear they want to stop using tax dollars to cover the day-to-day operations of the state’s 117 developed parks and a like number of undeveloped properties.

In response, the state Parks and Recreation Commission came up with ways of generating chunks of revenue from online ads and expanded private investments.

Under House Bill 2226 and Senate Bill 6034, the agency could start selling a limited number and type of ads on its website and in its printed materials later this year. A fiscal note prepared for the bill offered no estimates on how much money might be earned.

“We’re pushing parks to raise more money and be self-sufficient. With this bill we’re allowing them a new way to try,” said Sen. Kirk Pearson, R-Monroe, the prime sponsor. The Senate could vote on the measure this week.

And Pearson said he’s not concerned something inappropriate will suddenly appear.

“It’s a good test and we’ll see. I do know if the advertising doesn’t meet the standards of what people expect, we’ll hear from those people,” he said.

Whereas leaders of state parks are acting out of need, those at the helm of the state lottery are responding to requests from folks who want to advertise.

Under House Bill 2279, Washington’s Lottery could sell Internet ads and charge a fee for use of the lottery logo or trademark starting Sept. 1. It could net about $90,000 a year from the changes, according to a fiscal analysis prepared for lawmakers.

Lottery Director Bill Hanson said at a hearing on the bill last month that he sought the legislation because many corporate retailers which sell tickets ask regularly about running ads on the agency website.

“It is sort of a win-win for everybody,” he said.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Jeff Holy, R-Cheney, is awaiting a hearing in the House Appropriations Committee.

Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Kelli Littlejohn, who was 11 when her older sister Melissa Lee was murdered, speaks to a group of investigators and deputies to thank them for bringing closure to her family after over 30 years on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘She can rest in peace’: Jury convicts Bothell man in 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Everett police searching for missing child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive. The child was missing under “suspicious circumstances.”

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.