Even for WSJ.com, ads are key

Neil Budde, the recently unplugged publisher of WSJ.com, says, “In 2002, advertising was up about 25%. We’re not back to 2000 levels, but we were being more attentive to more appropriate advertising formats and placement of advertising. We’ve attracted a lot of advertisers back in. I still see a lot of upside. Back in 2000, the split between advertising and circulation revenues was about 60%-40%. Then [those percentages] reversed last year. Now it’s a bit more tilted toward subscriptions, but advertising is creeping back. As you continue to grow the subscriber base, that’s great, but the real opportunity is still to make this a more viable advertising medium and bring in more dollars.”