• by August 14, 2000

Imagine Media announced today it will set a charitable giving precedent and turn the high demand for ad space into a philanthropic first. In an auction launched in conjunction with Yahoo! Auctions, Business 2.0 will host a week-long charitable online auction placing two premium ad pages in the November 14 issue up for bid.

All profits from the winning auction bids will go directly to benefit the Huntington's Disease Society of America - a non-profit organization dedicated to finding a cure for this currently fatal degenerative brain disorder. From Aug. 24 through Aug. 30, 2000, two up-front pages are slated to go on the auction block and are located in key positions opposite the Masthead and in the opening of the "Ebusiness" section. The demand for these positions is so great that guaranteed rotations are already committed through 2001, magazine officials said. Bidding will start at $5,000 per ad, which is nearly 600% lower than the current open rate. The auction will be conducted one week prior to the closing ad space deadline for the issue. "With the almost insatiable appetite for advertising in Business 2.0, we felt we could provide entirely unique ad placements and raise money for a worthy charitable cause," said Michela O'Connor Abrams, president of Imagine Media's Business Division and publisher of Business 2.0. "Demand for advertising is so great in our publication that surely, there can be no better time to utilize magazine advertising as a vehicle for philanthropy."

At the end of July, AdAge.com reported that some dot-com and technology advertisers were bowing out of phone-book sized publications such as Business 2.0, citing ad dilution, high rates and a low return on investment. Through May, however, according to Publishers Information Bureau, Business 2.0 ad pages were up were up 318.6% to 1,212.6. The auction will conclude on August 30, and those offering winning bids will be notified via e-mail or telephone on August 31.