There's a great article in Digiday today about how CBSSports.com is gearing up to compete with its larger rivals ESPN.com and Yahoo!:

"Can CBS ever catch Yahoo and ESPN for digital sports dominance? CBSSports.com is doubling down on premium, original content and reporting talent. The site has brought on veteran journalist Jon Heyman to spearhead its Major League Baseball coverage. Heyman, who starts on Dec. 12, spent the past five years at Sports Illustrated, and is a frequent contributor to MLB Network and the sports radio station WFAN in New York.

"Heyman’s hire is the latest move by CBSSports.com as it looks to build a roster of high-profile reporters in each of the major professional and college sports..."

With recent changes to Google's search engine algorithm, as well as consumers' increasing reliance on digital as a primary source of news and information, traditional media pitching to online outlets could be a great source of coverage for clients.

The next time you're putting together an earned media plan for your clients, don't forget to include online outlets as well. They're clearly hungry for "premium, original content" and it could be a great partnership for both them and your client.