In interim results published last week, Roularta reported sales down to €181.88 million from €201 million in the first quarter of last year. Printed media was down 10.6%, and advertising income of magazines down by nearly a quarter. And the company warned that short-term ad bookings give no reason to expect an improvement in the next quarter.

Meanwhile the company announced an agreement with Internet search engine Google under which Roularta will sell Google AdWords to local and regional advertisers in Belgium. AdWords allows even small businesses access to an international audience via advertisements appearing on Google’s search results, as well as within email application GMail and Google Maps. According to Roularta, its experience with local and regional newspapers like De Streekkrant, Tam Tam and Vlan Immo has allowed it to build up a network of thousands of advertisers.