Online products show
commitment to digital future
By Marie Griffin
The 10 business media websites profiled here this year stand out within the categories Media Business has chosen, but the com- petition was tougher than it has ever been in the four years of this annual special report. In almost every category, one or more additional websites were very close contenders. ¶ The 60
nominees submitted to Media Business as potential Great Media Web-
sites reflect the state of electronic media in the business media world to-
day—and it’s an incredibly positive picture. In spite of the long reces-
sion and slow recovery, most business media companies are seriously
investing in the future, which is, without doubt, digital.
Contrary to reports that traditional media are destined for extinction in a digital
media world, business publishers continue
to crack the code for making money online.
Even without counting website launches
that one would expect to bring in new revenue, almost 20% of the remaining nominations referenced successful new advertising products and opportunities.
For example, the three sites nomi-
nated by Advantage Business Media—
ECNmag.com, PharmPro.com and
RDmag.com—have added new cost-per-
lead advertising opportunities. Sup-
plyFrame.com (SupplyFrame Media) to-
tally changed its advertising model to
what Jeff Curie, VP-marketing, described
as “dry as bone, without pretty graphics
or flashy animations that performs excep-
tionally well for our advertisers.”
As they see signs that digital media ad-
vertising is becoming a solid, sustainable
business, business media companies are
investing in their websites.
