Most newspapers continue to print in "fixed" columns. But there is a growing number of them who offer advertising which "cuts across columns", especially in India. Thus while ads are measured in sq. cm., editorial formats continue to follow fixed columns.

Indian publications started implementing Square Centimetre Rate Card in 2002. Or rather, they were forced to by the Indian Govt's media release agency DAVP (Directorate of Audio & Visual Publicity). DAVP decided to measure & pay for all ads in sq.cm., ostensibly to standardise the comparative rates between publications. Being a change from the prevailing rate per column cm, newspapers were forthwith asked to "convert" their rate cards into Square Cm.

Soon, Times of India announced conversion of their regular rate card to the Square Cm Rate Card. This was soon followed by Rajasthan Patrika.

Developments in 2003
From a small number of 5 , there are now over 50 major dailies who have converted to Square Centimetre Rate Card.

Globally however, there seems to be no clear trend towards "square cm rate card". So, despite a few leading dailies, and a few countries (like India & Lithuania) most newspapers continue to measure & charge for advertising rates on the basis of column cm.

Why Square Cm ?
• Advertiser Friendly
By adopting the square cm. model, newspapers effectively offer advertisers the freedom to select the ad width of their choice - instead of in multiples of columns.
• Easy to Compare Rates
The square cm. model effectively standardizes newspaper advertising column widths to 1 cm - making it easy to compare rates of competing dailies.
• Reducing Page Size
The need for reducing newsprint consumption & raw material costs has lead to reducing newspaper sizes. Thus increasing the significance of each square cm of advertising. (The smaller the page, the more the significance of each sq. cm. )
• Rate Hike
Newspapers that converted to square cm. have always compensated themselves for the reduction in number of columns (due to shrinking page size). And also used the "opportunity" to conveniently slip in a price hike.