Thank you for your interest in advertising with GapersBlock.com. In the next few pages, you'll learn why our readership is the perfect demographic for a wide range of advertising needs, whether you're a local business, national brand or just a guy with a couch to sell.

• About the Site >
• Reader Demographics >
• Site Statistics >
• Success Stories >
• Technical Specs, Rates & Sizes >

If you'd like to speak with someone immediately regarding your advertising needs, contact Andrew Huff at or 773/368-6137. We'll hook you up.

Budget-conscious folks may be interested in purchasing text ads, which appear on every page on the site for one week, at a very reasonable rate. More info here.

There are many terms for the traffic slowdown that happens in the wake of an accident. Rubbernecking. Gapers' delay (caused by lookie-loos), et cetera, et cetera. But here, in Chicago, we say Gapers Block.

And that's pretty descriptive of our mission: to get you to slow down, look around and check out what's going on in our city.

We are a Web publication that provides news, event info and in-depth features particular to Chicago and the surrounding area. Our primary property focuses on Chicago from a holistic perspective, but we also feature microsites that focus on local food, sports, music, arts and literature.

GapersBlock.com is staffed by natives and transplants, North and South Siders. But no matter where we're from or where we live, all of us share a love of Chicago and a desire to share the joys of the city with others.

Our Properties

Gapers Block
The main Gapers Block site is composed of Merge, a collaborative weblog on a wide range of topics updated weekdaily; Slowdown, a calendar highlighting events you may not have heard about; daily columns from our resident Airbags; Detour, a weekly feature; daily photos in Rearview; and a question to ponder and discuss in Fuel.

Microsites:
In addition to the main site, we have several stand-alone sections covering specific topics.
• A/C — An arts and culture blog looking at theatre, art, dance, classical music and more.
• Book Club — A companion to our well-attended book club events.
• Drive-Thru — A blog tracking the city's vibrant food and drink scene.
• Tailgate — The only place fans of all Chicago sports can talk together.
• Transmission — A blog of news, reviews and features about contemporary Chicago music.

In 2007, we conducted a thorough poll of our readership. Our audience is composed of city dwellers who are highly educated, coupled, and have considerable disposable income. Here are some specifics:

Age:
62% are 25-34.

Income:
38% make $50K or more.

Education:
58% have an undergraduate degree.
33% have a graduate degree.

Family:
While 50% of our readers are happily coupled, only 12% of our readers have children.

Occupation:
Our readers tend to work in advertising/marketing, computers, education, and non-profits. 40% plan to look for a new job in the next year.

Spending:
28% spend $50 or more each month on media/music.
23% spend $50 or more each month on live entertainment.
60% spend $100-500 each month on eating and drinking out of their home.
44% spend $1000 or more each year on vacations.

Here's a roundup of our most recent site stats. All figures are averages.

Weekday visits: 9,000-10,000 per weekday, about half to the front page
Weekend visits: 4,000-5,000 per day
Monthly visits: 250,000 (approx. 90,000 unique visitors)
Monthly page views: 1.8 million

Our rates are extremely competitive. In fact, compared to other Chicago-based sites and publications, Gapers Block is significantly more affordable. That means your advertising will be more likely to pay for itself and you can reach out to consumers more often.

Most of our advertisers are local businesses and organizations, such as Early to Bed, the Windy City Rollers, Redmoon Theatre, Rotofugi, Thousand Waves Spa and many more. However, we've also run ad inventory from national brands such as American Express, ShoeBuy.com and ZipCar.

Success Story — Newberry Library
Chicago landmark Newberry Library regularly turns to GapersBlock.com to publicize events, including their well-attended "Wednesday Club" series. Their campaigns are receiving an astounding 8.55% CTR, and some campaigns are as high as 16%.

A Success Story — Chicago Public Radio
Chicago Public Radio was looking for a way to reach a younger audience for its "Chicoag Public Radio Presents" concert series. Advertising for the series has seen and average 0.85% CTR — not including the 3.5% CTR for the premier ad in Transmission.

A Success Story — The Book Cellar
Lincoln Square book retailer/wine bar The Book Cellar has run 12 campaigns with GapersBlock.com. Overall, The Book Cellar is seeing CTRs of 4.45%, spiking as high as 15.8%.

Currently, we accommodate banner ads, text ads and full site sponsorships. Right now, we aren't accepting Flash-based, video or expandable ads.

We accept ads in JPG, GIF and PNG file formats. Maximum file size is 40k. Animation subject to approval.

We require a minimum order of 5,000 impressions. Currently, we receive approximately 4,000-5,000 visitors per weekday on the front page, so please consider this as you plan your buy.

For an additional fee, our team can provide ad design services to give your buy a professionally polished look. Inquire for rates.

Text Ads:

Gapers Block is proud to offer our own text ad service. Our text ads provide an excellent value for advertisers while maximizing exposure for their message.

For just $35 a week — that's $5 a day! — your text ad will appear at the top of every page on the site, just above the masthead. No more than five ads run at a time, further guaranteeing the visibility of your message. Our text ads tend to outperform the industry average, with click-through rates of 0.8% to 1.5% not uncommon.

Text ads are available in one-week (seven-day) increments, for a maximum of four consecutive weeks at a time, at a rate of $35 per week. Ads may be no longer than 100 characters, including spaces, and must be safe for work.

Click here for more information and ordering.

Sponsorships:

Certain sections on Gapers Block may be "sponsored" by a company, event or product. For example, if you're a restaurant group launching a new property, think about a total buyout of our popular food microsite, Drive-Thru. Or are you a music label about to release a record? Sponsor Transmission, our music site.

We also produce a text-only, mobile-friendly weekly newsletter, The Party Line, sent to more than 1,000 subscribers. This is available for sponsorship for the cost of $100 per month.

If you're interested in sponsorships, contact Andrew Huff at 773/368-6137 for more information.