Maybe we're making some progress.
Last week, just as I learned that Ziff Davis had apparently ended its offensive practice of inserting ads in editorial text, I learned that CMP had begun doing so. But as a few readers of this blog have told me via email, CMP also now seems to have also retreated. Clickable ads that had appeared in stories here and here have disappeared. And as I take a quick cruise through the site this morning, I can't find any more of the offensive things.
However, I'm not entirely convinced that CMP has decided to do the right thing. When I look through the source code of those stories, I find references to IntelliTXT ads. That code may be something that's left over even if the ads have been removed forever. I just don't know for sure. So I'll wait awhile before I thank CMP for behaving responsibly.
But I would like to once again thank the readers of this blog who have voiced their support over this issue. And I'd like to offer special thanks to the American Society of Business Publication Editors. After publishing executives claimed that selling ads inside editorial text didn't violate ASBPE's ethics guidelines, the association responded quickly with a clear and definitive statement that no one could possibly misunderstand: "ad links within editorial text should NOT be sold under any condition."
On the other hand, I'm still awaiting a formal statement on this issue from American Business Media and the American Society of Magazine Editors.
tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media, journalism ethics, advertising
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