U.S. News & World Report saw ad revenue skyrocket 500% around the relaunch of its America's Best Colleges Web site, which provides the magazine's annual college rankings. "We're well into seven figures [in ad sales] just online for this story," says magazine president Bill Holiber. Traffic to the site more than doubled to 15 million page views last Friday. The site underwent a major redesign this year, offering more tools, articles and better accessibility of the ranking data. New content includes a section on new and up-and-coming schools, picks from high-school guidance counselors, a student forum and a gallery …

The starting gun has sounded for a marathon of political advertising, worth about $2 billion, that will be spent between Labor Day and Election Day. It will be an exciting race for owners of local TV stations, poised to grab 70%, of that haul. But 2008 has been so lousy that even $1 billion will not bring stations up to the revenue levels of last year. And 2007 was worse than 2006. Lehman Brothers analyst Anthony DiClemente forecasts another fall in stations' revenue in '09. Politics is the last major ad category that slavishly worships TV, "but …

The Internet is not yet a replacement for television, said experts in politics and advertising at a forum at the Democratic National Convention. "The Internet is moving exponentially, but it's still not TV," said Joe Trippi, campaign strategist for Howard Dean and John Edwards. The number of people who go to the Internet for campaign content still represents just about 10% of voters. Peter Greenberger, Google director, admitted that detailed research on the effectiveness of political ads on the Web is still in its infancy, and it isn't clear if Web ads translate into votes. But data shows …

CBS is launching a new version of its CNet Web site this week -- providing the first glimpse at how the media giant plans to integrate CNet Networks, the suite of Web properties it purchased for $1.8 billion in June. The upgraded site offers a revamped look, more online video and an easier way for advertisers to customize their messages. CBS is hoping the flagship site will help it turn back investor concerns that it overpaid for a troubled property.

Sometimes a stadium naming deal does not quite work out how a marketer wants. Financial services company Invesco paid $120 million for the naming rights to Denver's football stadium. But Wednesday night, appearing alongside Joe Biden, Barack Obama said, "And tomorrow night, we'll be over at Mile High Stadium..." The Adpulp blog says that ignoring the Invesco name was not an oversight by Obama and his staff, but served a purpose that the brand probably hadn't planned. By using the old stadium name, Obama could try to position himself as a man of the people and win …

The sagging economy is sparking chatter that in September clients may trim ad dollars they committed for the fall TV season. "There definitely seems to be a lot more smoke" about finalizing upfront buys, says one media buyer. "I know the networks are nervous. I have had a couple of people ask about trimming." How much might be lost? Typically, between 2% and 3% of ad time ordered in the upfront "slips" each year when the time comes for advertisers to finalize their buys. Media buyers say it will be 4% or more this year. Rino Scanzoni, …

TNT is turning advertisers into sponsors for its new one-hour legal drama "Raising the Bar," which will premiere Labor Day without commercial interruptions. Pfizer will serve as presenting sponsor of the first episode. The second episode, Sept. 8, will be sponsored by Focus Features, which will run an isolated theatrical-length trailer for the new Coen Brothers comedy "Burn After Reading." In the week leading up to the second episode, TNT will promote both the show and the trailer. Quiznos restaurants will sponsor "select episodes throughout the season." The Quiznos brand will be featured in tune-ins and billboards for …

ESPN has rebranded teen-oriented Rise magazine as ESPN Rise and will distribute the new issue at high schools nationwide this week.?Adding the ESPN name is part of an effort to grow the television brand's 12- to 17-year-old demographic. Circulation for the print magazine was boosted from 910,000 to 1 million and the magazine's Web site was also revamped with the new title.?ESPN Rise will continue to publish 25 regional editions eight times per year as well as an annual national edition. In December, ESPN acquired SchoolSports, a high school sports and lifestyle company that included …