I decided to compare Popular Mechanics, a magazine about science and technology, to National Geographic.
Popular Mechanics is a magazine that covers subjects such as science, technology, cars, and DIY, in a format intended to be readable by a general audience. Nearly 90 percent of readers are men, and are usually young to middle age adults. National Geographic primarily covers geography and world issues. The average reader is middle aged, and around 65 percent are men.
As for ads, Popular Mechanics was chock-full. The 138-page issue was more than one-third ads, with the first and last 20 pages being mostly ads and ads interspersed throughout; the longest gaps between ads were less than ten pages. Most of the ads were for various electronic items and car care products, with a significant number for household products, power tools, and men's clothing and watches. A smattering of ads covered a variety other products from cigars to lawyers. A common theme to the ads was that they were all targeted to a primarily male audience. The products advertised did show some tendency toward nearby articles, with a higher concentration of, for instance, car care products nearer to the car articles. But there were still a lot of ads that had little to do with the subjects of the nearby articles.
Nat Geo primarily puts their ads near the beginning and end of their magazine, with the middle space being primarily dedicated to articles. The percentage of ads is less - maybe 20 percent. Ads tend toward more "sophisticated" items - watches and books making up a large percentage. Since ads and articles are largely separate, ads tend to be more random.
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