The Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive (WPNI), an online publishing subsidiary of The Washington Post Company, has released the new Sponsored Blogroll program. The program enables companies to post ads to Washington Post's already popular blogging community.

The first company to sign on is Lufthansa. Since the blogs cover a range of topics from Health to Auto, Business to Travel, Lufthansa believes it is the perfect place to reach a highly targeted audience.

"As one of the world's most innovative airlines, we are especially pleased with the opportunity WPNI's Blogroll presents to reach the young, affluent audience that participates in the blogosphere," said Marcus Casey, director of marketing and customer relations, North America, Lufthansa. "Advertising on washingtonpost.com and the travel blogs in WPNI's Blogroll was a natural choice, given the benefits of exposure to an important Lufthansa audience."

It is still a bold move, however, as Lufthansa could end up on a blogger's site who rants about bad service from the airline; an embarrassing situation for both parties. To dissuade those concerns, the advertisers at WPNI have given the bloggers the ability to control the ads on their blogs.

For even more flexibility, WPNI has set up the Build Your Own Network platform, which enables companies to easily customize their ad network, using Adify to power Blogroll.