Friday, February 09, 2007

eWeek retreats in ads-within-edit scandal

A few anonymous emails and one anonymous commenter tell me that eWeek has come to its senses.
The publication seems to have ended its offensive practice of inserting ads in the editorial.
If you're new to this issue, you can read my initial post on the problem here, or click here to read of my dismay to find that eWeek was a finalist for a Neal Award.

Now it's worth noting that eWeek hasn't officially announced that it's pulling the IntelliTXT ads. I asked Eric Lundquist, VP/editorial director at eWeek, for a comment several weeks ago. But I never received a response. Nonetheless, my anonymous friends tell me the links are gone. And as I take a quick look through the site, I can find no evidence they ever existed.

I'm thrilled by this development. And I want to thank anyone and everyone at eWeek that raised their voices against the ads. I also want to thank all of you who sent emails, posted comments and wrote pieces of your own about the scandal. Together you have made it clear -- again -- that the journalists of B2B will not compromise over ethics. Together you have reminded our industry -- again -- that the rules don't change just because a publication is online rather than in print.

For David Shaw's take on eWeek, click here.
Check out Matt McAlister's thoughts here.

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6 comments:

  1. Congratulations Paul. Well played.

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  2. Looks to me that they're still undecided. You can view the source and see that the javascript is still there and, in fact, making calls with every page view.

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  3. Matt,
    Thanks for the info. I hope it's not true that they are undecided. But I guess we'll have to keep watching.

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  4. Somewhat off topic, but I'm sure I speak for many when I write that those of us who read your blog regularly are saddened by the lack of recent posts. I hope you resume soon.

    -- Madhu Unnikrishnan

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  5. Thanks Madhu,
    I promise to resume posting on a regular basis soon. I've been on the road a great deal the past three weeks, and my schedule has gotten crazy.
    But I miss you folks too!
    And I'll be back soon.

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