Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/06/bbc_ads_are_go/
BBC.com begins commercial push
Auntie pimped to foreigners
Posted in Music and Media, 6th November 2007 17:03 GMT
The BBC has already begun serving advertising to overseas visitors to its website, after its governing body agreed to the move last month (http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/framework/commercial_services/bbc_com.html).
The rollout is being run by the Beeb's commercial arm, BBC Worldwide. It's starting with a gradual launch of European and North American campaigns ahead of a "full deployment" in January, a spokeswoman told us.
Ads are appearing on both the homepage (http://www.currybet.net/cbet_blog/2007/11/bbc_adverts.php) and the main news page (screengrab here (http://regmedia.co.uk/2007/11/06/bbc_ads.png)). So far, we've seen Flash marketing for British Airways and Airbus adorning BBC pages.
Making money back from its worldwide online presence is a top financial priority for the cash-strapped public service broadcaster, which is taking heavy job losses to cut costs.
The BBC is paid for by UK viewers through a £135.50 ($282.76) annual TV licence fee. BBC Worldwide has been ordered to double the cash it funnels back into corporation coffers within five years (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/10/29/bbc_worldwide_expansion/).
The plan for website ads was agreed to by the BBC Trust on the condition the ads don't distract too much from editorial content. There will be no pop-ups, and ads will appear only on heavily-trafficked pages. The BBC is using IP address-based geo-targeting to ensure that UK users do not see the ads, although it is not fool proof. ®
Bootnote
Cheers to Rew for the screengrab.