Content Marketing Today

Online RX Sought for Print Medical Pubs

You would have thought that medical journals would be immune to the pressure that other trade publications are facing from online alternatives. Apparently, they are facing challenges very similar to those that are stressing Ziff-Davis, CMP, and Penton Media.

In fact, mega-medical media company, Reed Elsevier, is facing an extended period of flat advertising revenues. They are attempting a somewhat daring experiment, suggests a recent article in the New York Times.

Reed Elsevier is exacting articles from its medical journals in placing them on dedicated websites. They are hoping to generate lots of online advertising revenue to replace what they’ve lost in their print journals. What makes of their gamble especially daring is that they are generating significant revenue from high priced medical publications

According to the Times:

The company, which is based in London, is taking a risk that its readers will drop their paid subscriptions and switch allegiance to the new Web site, which will offer searches and full texts of the same content from the moment of publication.

Another challenge facing Reed Elsevier is the strong and established presence of web sites such as webMD who are already trusted sources—and skilled at selling advertising online.

Successful are not, their increasing reliance on web advertising revenue is yet one more indication of the fragility of print publishing companies.