Internet Standard pulls plug
Lack of advertisers forces new economy title to fold after just ten months
Lack of advertisers forces new economy title to quit after only ten monthsBy Daniel SchifferleThe burst new economy bubble claims another victim: Internet Standard fell far short of expectations in both the advertiser and reader markets and is therefore ceasing publication with immediate effect. Computerworld, also published by IDG, will inherit the Internet issues.
If only the planners had been a little slower this time, just half a year, the title would probably never have been launched at all (see also the editorial on page 2). The Internet Standard was planned in the heyday of the Internet hype. When it first appeared on August 18, 2000, the crisis was already deep (see WW 10/01). The stock prices of many New Economy companies had already begun their descent into the abyss.
Hans Ueli Kühni, a board member of IDG Internet AG, which published the Internet Standard, still remembers the untroubled days: "When the newspaper was launched, Internet was hype. The American Industry Standard, parent paper and model for the Internet Standard, also published by IDG, was as thick as the Bible at the time, such was the demand for advertising space." But that changed quickly.
In recent months, the Internet Standard has achieved a paid circulation of between 7000 and 8000 copies. According to Kühni, around 6000 of these copies went to readers by subscription, while 1000 to 1400 copies per issue were sold at newsstands. "We were actually satisfied with the development in the reader market," says Kühni. But sales were far below the 17,000 copies that were to be generated by the end of 2001 according to the original business plan.
New Economy advertisers are on stand-by The main reason for the rapid demise of the New Economy title, says Kühni, is the faltering advertiser market. "The crash of the New Economy meant that Internet companies became particularly reluctant to invest in advertising. One gets the impression that the New Economy has switched to stand-by when it comes to advertising," Kühni notes.
At the last moment, Internet Standard tried to turn things around. The recipe would have been to position itself more in the B2B sector. But there was no longer enough time to make this switch to the more promising business world. Kühni does not want to reveal how much money Internet Standard has lost in total. But he confirms that it is a single-digit million amount in the middle.
Is there even a need for a separate print product devoted exclusively to the Internet? "No, of course not," says Kühni clearly today. However, Internet topics are not to disappear completely from IDG. According to Kühni, they will be integrated into Computerworld. Subscribers to Internet Standard will now receive the magazine, which is also published weekly, as a replacement.
If only the planners had been a little slower this time, just half a year, the title would probably never have been launched at all (see also the editorial on page 2). The Internet Standard was planned in the heyday of the Internet hype. When it first appeared on August 18, 2000, the crisis was already deep (see WW 10/01). The stock prices of many New Economy companies had already begun their descent into the abyss.
Hans Ueli Kühni, a board member of IDG Internet AG, which published the Internet Standard, still remembers the untroubled days: "When the newspaper was launched, Internet was hype. The American Industry Standard, parent paper and model for the Internet Standard, also published by IDG, was as thick as the Bible at the time, such was the demand for advertising space." But that changed quickly.
In recent months, the Internet Standard has achieved a paid circulation of between 7000 and 8000 copies. According to Kühni, around 6000 of these copies went to readers by subscription, while 1000 to 1400 copies per issue were sold at newsstands. "We were actually satisfied with the development in the reader market," says Kühni. But sales were far below the 17,000 copies that were to be generated by the end of 2001 according to the original business plan.
New Economy advertisers are on stand-by The main reason for the rapid demise of the New Economy title, says Kühni, is the faltering advertiser market. "The crash of the New Economy meant that Internet companies became particularly reluctant to invest in advertising. One gets the impression that the New Economy has switched to stand-by when it comes to advertising," Kühni notes.
At the last moment, Internet Standard tried to turn things around. The recipe would have been to position itself more in the B2B sector. But there was no longer enough time to make this switch to the more promising business world. Kühni does not want to reveal how much money Internet Standard has lost in total. But he confirms that it is a single-digit million amount in the middle.
Is there even a need for a separate print product devoted exclusively to the Internet? "No, of course not," says Kühni clearly today. However, Internet topics are not to disappear completely from IDG. According to Kühni, they will be integrated into Computerworld. Subscribers to Internet Standard will now receive the magazine, which is also published weekly, as a replacement.
