Public notice was once the steadiest line item in a publisher’s revenue mix — predictable, consistent and largely untouched. That stability is gone. In a recent E&P-sponsored webinar, E&P Magazine Publisher Mike Blinder sat down with Column CEO Megan Villanueva to explore what is quickly becoming one of the most contested — and consequential — areas in local media.
“Public notice is sitting at the center of a perfect storm,” Blinder said during the discussion. “Regulatory scrutiny is increasing, digital mandates are accelerating, and governments are exploring ways to move notices away from news publishers entirely.”
Villanueva agreed the stakes have never been higher, but she framed the moment as an opportunity rather than a retreat. “At the very moment public notice feels most uncertain, it may also be one of the most important and protectable revenue streams left in local media today,” she said. “Not just as a line item, but as a reflection of our role in civic accountability and public trust.”
The modernization argument — and what’s missing
Across the country, legislation is increasingly framed around efficiency — faster processes, lower costs and digital-first solutions. But Villanueva warned that many of these efforts misunderstand the core purpose of public notice. “The biggest shifts I’m seeing are this continued push to modernize and cut costs,” she said. “The general theme is moving notices onto government websites. But measures like that don’t truly meet the goal of public notice.”
She pointed to a growing divergence in how states are implementing these policies. “In Florida, the law still requires affidavits and accountability,” Villanueva explained. “But in other cases, it’s completely bare bones — just post it online and call it a day. There’s no verification, no proof of publication. That misses the point.”
At its core, she emphasized, public notice is about visibility and oversight. “Public notices are about holding power to account,” Villanueva said. “I personally don’t go to a government website to understand what’s happening in my community. I go there to pay utilities and property taxes.”
Adapting when the law changes — the Florida lesson
Few states have illustrated the disruption more clearly than Florida, where legislative changes allowed governments to shift notices away from newspapers. For many publishers, it felt like a direct hit to both revenue and relevance.
Villanueva acknowledged the tension but described Column’s response as both pragmatic and publisher-focused. “While Column opposed the legislation, once it became law, we had to reassess our role,” she said. “As a publisher-first company, we recognized how much this would impact publisher revenue.”
Rather than disengage, Column moved quickly to involve local publishers in any new workflow. “Our approach was to contact the publisher in each affected county to explore a revenue-share model,” Villanueva said. “We prioritized a model that included them.” She emphasized that the goal was never to bypass newspapers, but to find ways they could remain part of the ecosystem even as laws changed.
That effort also led to new partnerships designed to preserve both transparency and revenue. Working alongside D-R Media, Column helped launch a county-branded, white-label public notice site in Polk County. “This allowed the county to deliver the digital experience it wanted while preserving newspaper publication,” Villanueva explained. “D-R Media was able to retain its public notice revenue despite the law change.”
The model addressed a practical challenge many governments face. “If counties take this on themselves, they inherit the entire administrative burden,” she said. “Most clerks don’t want that — so providing a structured solution benefits everyone involved.” That approach didn’t eliminate criticism. “I understand that some publishers viewed our decision as a betrayal,” Villanueva said. “But from the beginning, we reached out to publishers and prioritized partnership.”
Ultimately, she framed the moment as part of a broader industry reality — one where survival depends on adaptation, not resistance alone. “This was about adapting to market changes,” Villanueva said. “Very much like publishers themselves have to adapt and evolve in response to shifting conditions.”
From defensive to strategic — protecting and growing revenue
While the legislative landscape continues to shift, the conversation in the webinar moved quickly from defense to opportunity. Villanueva shared examples of publishers using operational changes to strengthen — not just preserve — public notice revenue.
At Amsterdam News in New York, the impact was immediate. “They were handling public notice manually, and their staff was overworked,” Villanueva said. “When they adopted self-serve, they saw a meaningful increase in adoption. Right now, their self-serve rate is 87%, and 100% of their government notices are self-serve.”
The financial impact was even more significant. “They had been collecting only about 30 to 40% of their legal revenue because of accounts receivable issues,” she said. “With automation, they now realize close to 100% of every dollar sold. That helped triple their collections year over year.”
For larger groups, the opportunity is just as clear — but at a different scale. CherryRoad Media, which operates more than 100 newspapers across 19 states, used Column to centralize and simplify operations. “We got better at legals by not doing them,” said CherryRoad COO Lee Bachlet during the webinar. “When you’re working in 19 states and trying to understand the rules across all of them, it’s very complicated.”
The shift allowed CherryRoad to redeploy resources. “I was able to take an entire team of people and reallocate them where I needed them,” Bachlet said. “And it doesn’t cost me a penny — the advertisers pay for the service. We still get everything we got from those legals, but we’re more efficient.”
Driving growth, not just preservation
While much of the conversation around public notice has centered on protecting existing revenue, Villanueva pointed to examples where the right technology is actually increasing volume.
One of the clearest came from Ravena News-Herald, where Column worked with a high-volume customer — a registered agent placing large numbers of LLC notices. The issue wasn’t demand; it was friction. The advertiser was forced to submit notices through multiple systems, creating inefficiencies that limited how much business could realistically flow to any one publisher. “We heard consistently from high-volume advertisers that the process just didn’t scale,” Villanueva said. “If you’re placing 50 or more notices a month, clicking through the same workflow becomes inefficient and frustrating.”
To solve that, Column introduced automated placement, allowing notices to be submitted via API or email rather than through manual entry. “The goal was minimal change to advertiser behavior,” she said. “If they’re used to emailing notices, they can keep doing that. If they have technical resources, they can integrate directly.”
The impact was immediate. “Ravena’s notice volume increased by 35% just from that one customer,” Villanueva said. “When you make placement easier, advertisers send more of their business to you.” For Blinder, the takeaway was clear: growth in public notice isn’t just about legislative battles — it’s about meeting modern expectations. “It’s not just about arguing in the legislature,” he said during the webinar. “It’s about providing the tools so we’re ahead of the curve.”
Villanueva agreed. “This is about making the process easier and more efficient for everyone involved,” she said. “When you do that, you don’t just protect revenue — you create opportunities to grow it.”
Automation, scale and the next evolution
Beyond operational efficiency, the conversation turned to how technology can actually increase public notice volume — particularly among high-frequency users like law firms and registered agents. “If you’re placing one or two notices a month, the traditional workflow is fine,” Villanueva said. “But if you’re placing 50 or more notices, it becomes very inefficient.”
Column’s response was automated placement — allowing users to submit notices via API or email without navigating a manual interface. “The key is minimizing change to the advertiser’s behavior,” she said. “If they’re used to email, they can keep using email. If they have technical resources, they can integrate directly.”
The impact can be measurable. “In one case, a publisher worked with us to integrate directly with a high-volume customer,” Villanueva said. “The result was a 35% increase in notice volume from that single account.” For publishers, she argued, that kind of growth is directly tied to ease of use. “When you make placement easier, customers send you more business,” she said. “That’s the opportunity.”
A call for collaboration, not isolation
As the webinar closed, Blinder framed the moment bluntly: public notice is not disappearing — but it is evolving, and quickly.
Villanueva’s advice to publishers was equally direct. “Please don’t try to navigate these shifts alone,” she said. “Public notice rules are changing fast — rates, frequency, affidavit requirements — and it’s happening state by state.” She emphasized the value of shared knowledge and industry coordination. “Operating at a national level allows us to see these changes as they happen and share what’s working,” Villanueva said. “So when something hits your state, you’re not starting from scratch.”
For publishers, the takeaway is clear: the battle over public notice is no longer just legislative — it’s operational, technological and strategic. “This is not just about protecting a revenue stream,” Blinder said during the webinar. “It’s about maintaining that final check on power.”
And in that sense, Villanueva suggested, the industry still has leverage — if it chooses to use it. “There’s no need to navigate this alone,” she said. “The tools and the models already exist. The question is whether we use them.”
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