IDG Plans On-line Growth

NEW ZEALAND — IT industry publisher IDG New Zealand celebrates its fifth year operating a daily news service this week with plans for additional niche content sites and a complete revamp of its main portal over the next month.

IDG publisher Martin Taylor is unmoved by the dotcom fallout and the ensuing content crisis being felt by many publishers around the globe, claiming his on-line publications are not eating the lunch of the hard copy versions.


“There are too many who go in with a hiss and a road and piss away large amounts of money up front but if you’re prudent and deliver good quality product the money does come in. It may take time but in the end you actually do get there.”

He says the IDG Network which includes JobUniverse, is getting an audience of 100,000 per month in a specialist market which compares “pretty darn favourably” to the audience the publisher is getting from Computerworld or PC World.


Mr Taylor says the on-line service is extremely complimentary to the hard copy business. “The audience duplication between IDGnet and Computerworld is 15 per cent which means 85 per cent of the audience doesn’t read Computerworld and 60 per cent dont read PC World so weve got a net increase in audience of 50,000 or more per month.”

In the next month IDG plans to expand its on-line publishing empire with several new sites including Reseller News which launches on May 8th with specialist news and product information aimed at the channel market. Business glossy www.Unlimited.co.nz is in soft launch at the moment and officially goes live on May 23rd. there will also be an education product.


Mr Taylor says everyone in the on-line market is still in its early days. “What it needs is for advertisers to understand that it’s not a hell of a lot different to other media. We’re all pioneering but it would be crazy to dismiss the web from an advertising or media point of view.”

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