There are three primary advantages to using clipping services.

Greater Coverage
Clipping services are often the only source for coverage of limited-interest publications such as local newspapers. Moreover, clipping services will search for references in the whole of the published piece rather than in the abstracts some publications use online so their results will be more complete than a do-it-yourself online search. Clipping services can also monitor advertising.

Timeliness
Through your fax machine, you can receive clips from major metropolitan papers on the same day they are published rather than waiting for the article to be posted on the Web.

A Physical Likeness
Traditional clipping services will usually offer you the entire clipped article.This means that you can see how much space was given to the text of the article or to any accompanying graphics or photos. Online clipping services can be a more effective resource if your company's industry is primarily covered through online publications. These mentions can often be emailed directly to you but you will miss any print-only publications.