• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, June 16, 2009

In a sign of the times, The Wall Street Journal is cutting back on its advertising column, one of the most influential places for breaking news about Madison Avenue. The venerable paper will no longer run its "Advertising" column each weekday in its "Marketplace" section.

 

The paper is reducing the column's run each week from five days to two. The column -- arguably a must-read in the industry -- will appear on Mondays and Thursdays beginning this week.

Readers opening the B-section of Tuesday's Journal didn't get the column -- the first time in at least 20 years. The "Advertising" column covers new campaigns, industry trends, agency initiatives and more.

"Our hope is that by running the column less often, we can better single out the key trends and issues in the industry, while increasing our ability to leap opportunistically on the news," said a statement from Journal owner Dow Jones. "We remain fully committed to in-depth reporting about the advertising industry."

When the Journal launched its advertising column in the 1980s, it was a critical point of pride inside Dow Jones & Co. It gave the newspaper an important voice on Madison Avenue versus The New York Times' long-dominant position among dailies covering the advertising business.

The Journal's original columnist, Joanne Lippman, eventually went on to launch and edit the "Weekend" edition of The Wall Street Journal. More recently, she headed Conde Nast's ill-fated Portfolio magazine.

The ad column has since morphed into the Journal's "Marketplace" section, which includes "Media & Marketing." According to Dow Jones & Co.'s current online rate card, "M&M" publishes three days a week on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday: It's unclear how much the economy's impact on ad pages led to the current decision to cut the column's frequency. A Dow Jones representative declined comment. The "Marketplace" section Tuesday was only six pages, with the back cover focusing on weather.

Dow Jones said in its statement that the "Journal regularly assesses its resources and priorities to meet the needs and interests of our readers."

Journal competitor The New York Times continues to run its ad column weekdays; the lead writer is Stuart Elliott.

While the dueling papers' columns provide information for readers in multiple industries, some believe they also serve as new-business tools. Media buyers may have searched for ad opportunities in them, especially before the economic downturn.

The jettisoning of the "Advertising" column as a daily feature at the Journal is only the latest change the paper has made to the "Marketplace" section, following its acquisition by the Rupert Murdoch-led News Corp. Features on marketing tactics and initiatives seem to appear less often on the section front, with more of a hard-news emphasis emerging.

On Monday, the Journal's ad column focused on Web security and its relationship to online advertising. Last week, pieces focused on a new campaign by Sprint and whether Procter & Gamble would trim its agency roster.