• by Masha Geller , February 7, 2003

In January, Europe’s Interactive Publishing decided it would be fun to get 20 of the top European online publishing executives together for two days in Zurich to talk about the "immediate present and future of the online publishing industry." The results of the roundtable were far from eye-opening, but shed an interesting light on our European counterparts.

For one, the participants (who included the online directors of key publications such as Le Monde, The Guardian, La Stampa, and Wall Street Journal) agreed that the potential of their industry is far from exhausted, saying that not even 30% of the revenue options are tapped. In the next two to three years, these publishers hope to better meet advertisers needs and offer more targeted products (who doesn’t?) but what’s interesting is that they feel their integrated media strategy will only gain ground if a fast “generation change in top management” occurs.

Interactive Publishing founder Norbert Specker explained that an integrated media strategy is a question of survival, and that is why the group sees “great advances in areas ranging from staffing – particularly a change in top management towards a younger leadership who has grown up with the Internet - to in-house communication and integrated marketing efforts.”

Also, the group agreed that the ongoing discussion of free versus paid-for content was a weakness. Both revenue sources will have to be further developed; it is not an “either/or” question, the group agreed, adding that the industry has a much better understanding of the advertiser side at this stage and online publishers are confident they’ll be able to meet the needs of advertisers within the next two to three years (something the U.S. can certainly relate to).

The one phrase in the report that made me smile was: “There is a growing sense that the advertising industry is underestimating the brand building value of advertising on online publishing sites.” Discuss.