Now this is what I call targeted advertising. The Wall Street Journal is so keen on its new iPad app, it’s advertising it to online readers of the rival Financial Times.
These banners were spotted when logged in to FT.com as a subscriber, and link straight to the WSJ.com order page detailing the $17.29-a-month ($3.99-a-week) iPad edition, which proprietor Rupert Murdoch thinks is the kind of thing that could rescue newspapers and lead to him switching off the presses.
The FT has its own iPad app – free for two months under a sponsor arrangement, then reverting to the site’s core premium access model, costing between $183.04 and $299 a year ($3.59 to $5.75 a week).
No response yet from FT regarding the ad.
FT tells us: “The ad you mention isn’t a network ad (FT.com inventory is not available on any network – only direct). FT.com is happy to run competitors advertising and always have been. We’re delighted our competitors recognise that we have a great audience that they need to reach.”