Wall Street Journal Online. The Wall Street

¶ … Wall Street Journal Online. The Wall Street Journal Online has over 646,000 paying subscribers. It features updated, in-depth coverage and analysis of business news drawn from more than 1,600 journalists working for the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires around the globe. The Online Journal has enhanced the business of Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswire.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE

The Wall Street Journal has over 646,000 paying Internet subscribers. Many believed the Wall Street Journal would fold with the popularity of the Internet, but this did not happened. Instead, it has increased the sales of the Wall Street Journal. "The Wall Street Journal has been published since 1889" (1998) It has always met the challenge of time and technology. Even before the explosive growth of the Internet, the WSJ was making its headway to create a powerful online news product. The history of the Wall Street Journal Online is one of interest comparing the steps and direction it has taken.

The History of Wall Street Journal

Dow Jones has strived on giving the businessman the news on business, financial news, and information. "In doing so, Dow Jones looks to leverage core competencies and traditional strength in business content, and our expertise in what we call the 'chemistry of publishing" (Steinbock 2000). Dow Jones has met changing technology changes for over 100 years. Dow Jones began with the understanding that it would have to change the Journal into the online world. "We began by thinking about what would make the Journal useful in the lives of business people and investors" (Steinbock 2000). They believed they had to supply value to customers or they would not survive. Various other companies have tried to obtain paid subscribers for their online news sites and have failed.

Dow Jones has been a symbol of power, respect, and trust. Although Dow Jones survived for over 110 years, many industry observers believed it would not survive the World Wide Web. The Wall Street Journal emerged after the Second Industrial Revolution as it met the rising financial markers and the new technological infrastructure of Manhattan. "Historically, Dow Jones has been a first mover in business and financial news and information" (Steinbock 2000).

This included handwritten bulletins of stocks to the bond trading news called the Customers' Afternoon Letter. With the electric ticker service in 1897, the company continued to grow with supplying the news by telegraph. As technology changed so did Dow Jones. They met every challenge from the rapidly changing world. "The Journal has made the 'three interrelated sets of investments in production, distribution, and the management required to achieve the competitive advantages of scale, scope, or both, inherent in the new and improved products and processes" (Steinbock 2000).

During the 1970's, it grew through the diversification of the products and expansion. Many companies did not survive this period. Then the 1980's the circulation climbed to over two million in 1983. Part of the reason for this growth was Dow Jones database efforts. Three years later they introduced Wall Street Journal Europe. During the years between 1985 and 1990 Dow Jones acquired Telerate, a real-time financial data network. Dow Jones added Smart Money, which is the Wall Street Journal Magazine of Personal Business. In 1996 Dow Jones introduced the Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition. Next, came the Asia Business News in 1995. Approximately two-year later, Dow Jones started an alliance with NBC that was centered on CNBC. "It sought to offer U.S., Asian and European audiences the best available business news programming" (Steinbock 2000). All this brought new markets, new demographics, and new technologies. Wall Street Journal met all these changes. Dow Jones delivered a video of news coverage to business and financial customers' computers. However, this failed and caused a sizable loss in 1997.

During this time Dow Jones revenues composition changed. "In 1993, Dow Jones's revenues had amounted to $1,932 million, with 44% from information services, 43% from business publications, and 13% from community newspapers. After restructure and divestitures, Dow Jones, in 199, generated $2,002 million in revenues, with 66% from print publishing, 17% from electronic publishing, and 17% from community newspapers" (Steinbock 2000). This began a shift from information services to publishing services. This changed the advertising to circulation and a reduction in internationalization. The more that Dow Jones focused on circulation the more rapidly publishing was moving to electronic products. Sadly, Dow Jones stock languished. It was during this time that the Interactive Journal was being created and launched. Many believed that Dow Jones would be destroyed.

The Beginning of Wall Street Journal Online

Neil F. Budde taught himself how to do computer programming and the use of HTML on Boston's Logan Airport (Sacharow 1998). Some people laughed at the ideal that Budde could teach himself computer programming and make it work for an Interactive Journal. However, Budde became the veteran editor of the beginning Interactive Journal beginning in December 1993. "From the beginning, we wanted to create something people would pay for. It's always been part of our vision. We set out to create and independent product that would stand on its own," says Budde (Sacharow 1998). He would direct the design, development, and evolution of it. He would oversee the news, technical operations, and manage its relationship similar to how he had with the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones news media. According to Budde, "After all, we now had a medium that lent itself to timeliness, depths of information and provided the ease of linking from one piece of information to another. I started showing the prototypes around to people in the company. As I got feedback, more people were getting excited about the idea" (Steinbock 2000).

Budde's beginning concept was to use the Visual Basic as he designed the features and functions of the Interactive Journal. It would have robust data and information that would provide the global perspective of highly customized news and investment data. The concept was that it would be a tool of use. Even during the early invention days, the ideal was that people would pay for quality when they received an in depth and breadth of information. Putting the Interactive Journal on software would have taken them longer and the company might not have been able to survive. "Time was running out" (Steinbock 2000). The aggressive competitors might destroy The Wall Street Journal if something was not done quickly. Budde was working on a solution. The Internet was the best technology for delivering this product. The team of inventors was excited about the possibilities of using the Internet with the Interactive Journal. Budde says, "We couldn't help but notice the emergence of the Internet and the World Wide Web....As we investigated a bit further, we realized that we should move our efforts over to the Internet" (Steinbock 2000). In the past Dow Jones had overcome the problems and kept up with the technology and it would continue to do so. Early in 1995, the team moved development to the Internet.

The earliest version of the Interactive Journal started with Money & Investing Update. This was an interactive version of the Journal's third section, free and advertising-driven. "With technology integration, the emphasis was on the upstream activities, including user feedback (e.g.... developer communities in beta testing, focus groups or internal employees in building online communities or product testing). Only with the launch of the product was this internal orientation displace with an external one" (Steinbock 2000).

Once the migration takes place then the integration is no longer the driving force. The product was free in the beginning. The Interactive Journal had to gain paying subscribers.

The Money & Investing Data was started in April 1996. This extended news coverage that would include politics, economics, marketing, sports, and weather. Marketing integration development needed to manage its interaction with the customer. "Marketing integration is driven by downstream processes (distribution, marketing, and sales service). With full product launch, the focus groups are displaced by the customer base, which provides continuous, real time, and interactive feedback. Through segmentation, user feedback is analyzed according to strategic objectives" (Steinbock 2000). The Wall Street Journal Online had a staff of more than 700 reporters and editors bringing together the combined assets of Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal and the Asian Wall Journal. The staff from all of this would be able to bring news 24 hours a day, 7 days a week around the globe. Plus, the online investing news. However, the Wall Street Journal Online has different demographics than the Wall Street Journal. "Certainly, the Interactive Journal sought to extend the newspaper franchise into the market space, but online migration required far more than a simple brand extension" (Steinbock 2000). The wsj.com was more than the printed version bringing new products and services.

Dorothes Coccoli Palsho, president of business information services at Dow Jones, announced the new perspective of paying subscribers for the Online Journal. She states that it is a matter of trust. "We do not view news and information as a commodity, but rather as a valuable product that editors and reports enhance with their judgment, perspective and analytical skills. The process of filtering and analyzing information is an asset to busy people who are being deluged with information, much of it misleading or irrelevant" (Palsho 1997). She stated that most readers do not have the time to search and gather news on their own and they trust the staff to do this for them. There have been several other newspapers that tried putting their paper on the Internet with paid subscribers and have failed. Palsho says that the Interactive Journal will be different from other newspapers because one of their most important assets is credibility.

The relationship between credibility and trust is a vital asset regardless of what new forms of media develop. Assessing the variety of news and information sources available online, she said that no matter how fancy the delivery method, or how attractive the pricing (even free), serious customers won't tolerate content that isn't completely reliable and credible" (Palsho 1997).

Palcho states that there are over 60 million documents and access to around 400 separate databases. Many publishers are skeptical concerning the Wall Street Journal Online. The Interactive Journal is placing it within a larger matrix of specialized information, services, and partnerships within a wide variety of distribution channels.

When the Online version started it had over 30,000 paying subscribers within the first 30 days. Budde's team believed that regular users would pay the premium for the quality service they would receive. The design of the online wsj.com offered valuable service and features that people would be willing to pay the subscription rate. The beginning rate was $49 annual or $29 for paid subscribers of the Wall Street Journal. Gradually the number of paying subscribers has increased. The Wall Street Interactive Journal was the only online news service that required payment. "A 'quick search' option reaches more than 1,000 sources (newspapers, magazines, trade journals, transcripts, and newswires) in the database....The full search of 5,500 publications offers more search options" (Paul 1999).

The Journal was prepared daily by a staff of 150 full-time professionals, sixty of them editors and reporters, the online version gave subscribers far more than a recycled version of the Wall Street Journal. It provided information about politics, economics, technology news, marketing, travel and sports. It integrated various geographically targeted Wall Street Journal publications with online readers with a comprehensive global resource for business news.

Technology News

Technology news is important to the Online Journal more than the Wall Street Journal in print. Dow Jones expanded its online offering in technology and personal finance. It developed a special page called the "Tech Center." Budde's team knew that technology and advertising had to be important for the online journal.

Advertising

Advertising on wsj.com was going to be a premium ad arena for two reasons. The readership of wsj.com represented a global community throughout the world. The readers are remarkably influential businessmen who would influence other readers. These businessmen demanded the best in news, analysis, and commentary. The Online journal could be an advertising medium that demanded a price premium. "Initially, the Interactive Journal had to emulate its buyers -- not just the subscribers, but the advertisers" (Steinbock 2000).

The Interactive Journal (wsj.com) was unique, but that would not be the selling point. It had to give more than quality or uniqueness. The team working on the Interactive Journal must give attractiveness of the product with the vast knowledge of market news and the team had to communicate this to subscribers for the wsj.com to be successful. In August 1998 the journal launched an affiliate program that earned money for bringing subscribers to the journal. The rates of the journal increased from $49 to $59 per year. Other papers such as the New York Times did not have paid subscribers on their online papers.

The Interactive Journal had many financial sites with charts, graphs, and other database information. During this time the digital economy was being "mobilized." The Interactive Journal followed in the footsteps. Now the Journal would have to offer "unwired" services. News came from a variety of mobile technologies and devices. Mobile users could now use this around the clock.

Making the Wall Street Online with Customization and Personalization

Budde saw many challenges in the future of the Online Journal. He says, "We must make it ever easier for those, who are already subscribers, to locate the information they need and want from the vast collection of information we have. We need to get new people to sample WSJ.com and understand its value" (Steinbock 2000). The need was to personalize the Online Journal for the customers. The Interactive Journal needed to raise switching costs that would then raise entry costs to deter rivals.

The largest paid circulation in the fourteen-year history of the Interactive Journal was in 2000 with 438,000 subscribers. This was a gain of over 55% over the first quarter of 1999. There were several reasons for these gains ranging from traditional marketing and direct marketing to the emulating success of AOL in shipping millions of diskettes to people to get them to take AOL. Budde says that campaign of AOL taught him how important it is to put something in the customers' hands.

WSJ.com was now a market leader in Web publishing and commerce. The Online Journal had 461,000 paid subscribers. "With a paid circulation of more than 461,000, WSJ.com maintained its position as the largest paid circulation on the World Wide Web. A worldwide leader in electronic publishing, Dow Jones & Co. had developed the world's first electronic news ticker 1897. Starting in 1993 it had developed the most successful subscription model on the Web" (Steinbock 2000). Dow Jones knew when to listen to their customers and made the changes needed to keep the company going. Definitely the online journal helped the printed version of Wall Street Journal. Budde's team met the challenge of the international global activity by producing the Asian Wall Street Journal. "Just as the Second Industrial Revolution gave rise to Dow Jones & Company and its flagship brand, the Wall Street Journal, the Third Industrial Revolution led to the creation of the Interactive Journal, through technology and marketing integration" (Steinbock 2000). Dow Jones met the challenges and succeeded with the Wall Street Journal Online.

Changes to the Wall Street Journal Online from 2001 to 2002

On October 8, 2001, Dow Jones & Company announced it would raise the cost of advertising, but it would be a better quality of advertising with new opportunities for color ads. The Wall Street Journal will offer new color creative options, color pages, color center spreads, color half pages and 4-page and 8-page color center pullouts.

Paid subscribers for the Wall Street Journal on March 31, 2001 were 1,943,601 (Goldstein 2001). Paid subscribers for the Asian Wall Street Journal were 84,249.

On December 13, 2001, the Wall Street Journal Online announced that it would be using net Score - TM- for Internet Audience Measurement. This will measure the purchasing power of its consumer franchise. This will help in making decisions concerning audience evaluation, promotion planning, and advertising sales generation. "The net Score service is based on data obtained from the continuous, unobtrusive and confidential capture of activity across a global cross section of over 1.5 million opt-in Internet users as they browse and buy on the World Wide Web" (Goldstein 2001). This will measure the online purchasing power of consumer audiences.

On January 29, 2002, the Wall Street Journal Online at WSJ.com announced that it has new designs, new features, and new content. It had been working on a $28 million project to be anchored as a part of the technology infrastructure that would enable it to add new features and functionality as it improves its news to the paid subscribers of the Interactive Journal. "With nearly one million pages available at WSJ.com, the new Wall Street Journal Online offers readers new editorial features, better navigation, and improved personalization" (Goldstein 2002). This includes exclusive online columns from the Wall Street Journal's most esteemed writers such as Tom Herman, Scott McCartney, Steve McKee, Sue Shellenbarger, and others. The WSJ.com allows its subscribers to personalize by using tools to track their portfolios, view headlines, and updates to information that they need quickly. The WSJ.com has news and information for over 27 industries ranging from accounting to telecommunications. The Journal has shorter headlines, wilder pages, and a better layout that allows for faster reading. It has intuitive navigation that allows users to click a link to various articles, stock price information, online discussions, relevant Web sites and many other interactive tools. It has search tools that allow users to quickly find the information needed.

The re-designed Journal offers a better advertising environment to reach its 626,000 subscribers. "Enhancing advertising and branding opportunities for marketers, the site's improvements offer cleaner advertising formats on less cluttered pages, larger branding units for their advertisements and better placement options" (Goldstein 2002).

On April 2, 2002, the Wall Street Journal Online announced new branding opportunities for advertisers called the Brand Launch Unit. "Available exclusively to premier Online Journal advertisers, this new advertising format 'launches' marketers' online advertisements upward covering the top right hand corner of the Online Journal's front-page. When users first visit the site, the advertisement eye-catchingly expands and then slides back into its normal ad position. The movement of the advertisement, combined with its valuable placement on the Online Journal's front-page, creates optimum attention for our marketers' campaigns and products" (Goldstein 2002).

On July 10, 2002, the Wall Street Journal Online at WSJ.com announced the new online Health Industry Edition. This will cover the business of health for health industry professionals. "The edition at http://wallstreetjournal.com/health, features the award-winning health industry coverage of the Wall Street Journal, breaking health news from Dow Jones Newswires and exclusive online commentary on the industry, all in one place" (Goldstein 2001). This will be a premium provider of the health industry coverage for executives, key decision-makers or others who may be interested in the latest on health. Information will be provided concerning pharmaceutical/biotech companies, health insurance providers, research or science, and legislation or medical products.

The Wall Street Journal Online has been successful with 646,000. The Wall Street Journal not only has been successful, but it has enhanced the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Corporation. Although other newspapers have tried to go online with subscriptions, The WSJ.com is the only one that has been successful. Wall Street Journal's Online version has proved to be a successful endeavor bringing news and information to the businessman.

Subscribers Services

Here are a few services of WSJ.com:

person can check his/her subscription status

Renew the subscription

Change personal information such as address, name, or etc.

Suspend delivery

Update a person's email address

Search 7 days of Journal articles

The Subscriber Services Web site will also allow a person to order the Wall Street Journal and other Dow Jones publications, check the latest headlines and Dow Jones Averages, take a look at our storied history, profiles of our award wining writers and provide Valuable Links to WSJ sites, DJ publications, Online Products & Services and Travel Amenities" (wsj.com 2002).

A subscription can be ordered by clicking on the subscribe to the Journal on the Welcome Page or for other Dow Jones Publication click on "other Dow Jones Links." It is easy to subscribe by using a credit card or simply call [HIDDEN] JOURNAL (568-7625). This number can be called if a person has questions about their subscription or contact information is available on the website. An email can be sent to as well.

The minimum browser should be the Microsoft Internet Explorer version 3.0 or higher, or Netscape 4.0 or higher. It is necessary to log in to be sure that only subscribers are using the web site. Cookie encryption is used to protect personal information. "A cookie is a string of information that is sent by a Web site to the hard drive of the computer and is stored there temporarily. When a subscriber types in their account number to access Subscriber Services, they save this information as a cookie" (wsj.com 2002).

If a person wants to contact the advertising department, they can call or visit the website at http://advertising.wsj.comto access information online. If a person wants to reach the Online Journal and Barrons Online, they are available at www.wsj.comand www.barrons.com.They can email or phone.