These are good times for niche-oriented news and content sites hoping to hook up with one or more portals run by the likes of AOL, (NYSE: TWX) MSN and Yahoo. With traffic to these portals generally slowing, and demand for more original content growing, a WSJ piece notes that small scale blogs and websites are taking their place alongside more established and traditional providers like Reuters (NSDQ: RTRSY) and the AP. Not too long ago, small time content sites would have been happy for just brief attention from major portals. But now, the drive to deliver more varied content has led to syndication and ad-sharing deals that rarely demand exclusivity on the part of largely unknown providers.

SEE ALSO: As Yahoo Focuses More On Ad Services, The Portal Remains Central

In one example of the sudden popularity of niche providers, financial “infotainment” site Minyanville has struck deals with the aforementioned portals, as well as with Fox Business News’s website.

MSN, AOL and Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) have also begun employing talent scouts to unearth obscure sites that appear poised for a larger audience. AOL appears particularly aggressive: the company has sought to shorten the drawn-out contract process by crafting informal, quickie deals with blogs and content sites, the story says.

Such deals may have helped add a slight uptick in visitors to Yahoo Finance was up 20 percent year-over-year for September, says Comscore, while traffic for both MSN Money and AOL Money and Finance fell 9 percent that month.

Disclaimer: We have similar syndication deals with Forbes.com, Yahoo Finance, NYTimes.com, and HuffPo and more coming down the pipe.