• by Laurie Petersen , April 4, 2007

CNNMoney.com today launches a Luxury channel featuring a roadblock ad for the Infiniti G Sedan and geared toward attracting more high-end premium advertisers in a lush rich-media-intensive environment.

"We're responding to marketplace demand from consumers and advertisers," said Vivek Shah, president of digital publishing, Time Inc. Business and Finance Network. "CNNMoney.com readers have a high interest in viewing and reading about luxury items in addition to hard news. High-end premium advertisers are extremely environment-conscious."

Featuring large, eye-catching photography, photo galleries and videos, the site will include such features as Honeymoon Hotspots and homes from the wealthiest ZIP codes.

CNNMoney.com draws from Time Inc. properties such as Money and Fortune. Previous luxury features on the site have proven popular. A story about the Maybach Excelero--an $8 million car--resulted in 22,000 video streams, while the private lives of millionaires yielded roughly 38,000 streams, according to a CNNMoney.com spokesperson.

Among the launch contributors are Sue Zesiger Callaway, a veteran automotive writer, and Lee Clifford, Business Life editor for Fortune.

Forbes.com has had a luxury component to its Web site for some time.