Yahoo reportedly teaming with papers on HotJobs

Yahoo is close to signing off on a deal that would let six major newspaper groups sell ads on the Yahoo HotJobs classified service, according to a Saturday Wall Street Journal story (subscription required) citing unnamed sources.

The partnership, which could be announced as early as Monday, would help bolster HotJobs' position in local markets by tapping into the newspaper's community reach, the story said. The publishers included in the deal would be MediaNews Group, Hearst, Belo, E.W. Scripps, Lee Enterprises and Cox Enterprises, according to the story.

The proposed deal follows news earlier this month that Google is launching a program to sell ads in major newspapers across the U.S., starting with a three-month trial with publishers including Hearst, Gannett, the Washington Post Co. and the New York Times Co.