• by June 19, 2001

Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal and Barron's, yesterday unveiled electronic tearsheets for advertisers, providing an alternative to the costly and often ineffective process of physically sending newspaper copies to advertisers to confirm that ads have run. Engage Inc., a leading enterprise marketing software and interactive media company and a majority-owned operating company of CMGI, Inc., developed the custom system with Dow Jones, using Engage's Content Server software.

"It is astonishing that most publishers still have to send paper copies to advertisers to prove that ads have run. Thankfully, the end of this paper tearsheet nightmare is here," said Jeanette Schiavone, senior partner & client accounting director of MindShare New York, an advertising firm that has used the system. "The reduction in time and frustration is priceless. And initial reactions from auditors indicate that e-tearsheets satisfy our basic audit requirements too."

Using Engage's Content Server software, Dow Jones now offers advertisers web access to electronic copies of advertisements they have run in The Wall Street Journal or Barron's. From any Internet-enabled desktop, authorized advertising sales representatives and advertisers can view the published page containing their ads, thus eliminating the need for a printed copy. This new digital process eliminates the excessive storage, postage, and labor costs associated with traditional tearsheet practices.

"The tearsheet procedure is tremendously inefficient for all involved," said Doug Stoughton, director of advertising systems for The Wall Street Journal. "This system allows us to eliminate one of the last vestiges of a far more costly, labor-intensive submission, approval, and confirmation process."

The e-tearsheet service is the newest element of the innovative production process Dow Jones and Engage have established over the last several months. Using Engage's workflow software, The Wall Street Journal allows advertisers to submit their ads over the Internet, check on the ad's status at various points, receive email updates as the material is processed, see a proof of the ad before it is published and, as of yesterday, obtain online proof of publication.

"E-tearsheets are an important building block in the emerging end-to-end digital workflow and automated processing vision," said Kirk Carr, the Journal's director of advertising services.

"E-tearsheets allow advertisers to view their ads from anywhere on the planet-seven days a week, 24 hours a day, and as early as four a.m. on the morning of publication," adds Steve Howe, the Journal's vice president, advertising. "We believe this system brings enormous benefits to both the publisher and the advertiser."

Dow Jones plans to roll out the e-tearsheets to its European and Asian editions as well as The Wall Street Journal Sunday, by the end of the summer.