On Feb. 12, The Rockdale News will launch Half Price Fridays, an exciting new program that will benefit both readers and advertisers.

Each week The Rockdale News will partner with a local restaurant to offer a limited number of restriction free $50 gift certificates for sale on Rockdalenews.com for only $25.

"To me, this program has something to offer for everyone," said Tyler Smith, Webmaster of The Rockdale News. "Not all restaurants have money available to spend on local advertising either because of hard times or corporate restrictions. This program allows them to establish a presence in the local newspaper as well guarantee customers at their restaurant."

On the flip side, readers of The Rockdale News will have a chance to enjoy a night out on the town for half the normal price, Smith said.

During the week, an ad will run on Rockdalenews.com’s homepage advertising the upcoming deal. When readers click on the ad, they will be directed to an e-store page will full details on that week’s participating restaurant as well as the particulars of the program.

At 9 a.m. every Friday, that linked page will go live, allowing readers to purchase the $50 gift certificates for $25 through a highly secured Web site. Once purchased, the gift certificates will be mailed to the buyer in one to two weeks.

For more details on the Half Price Fridays program, visit rockdalenews.com. To become an advertiser with the program, call Advertising Sales Director Annette Godwin at (678) 750-5036 or e-mail her at agodwin@rockdalenews.net.