Some anecdotal evidence showed me that the underlying trend changing publishing seems to sustain.

While Doubleclick predicts a much rosier picture for online advertising -

""People are looking for a break point," he said. "But we're going to see steady growth."

Ryan said DoubleClick expects double-digit revenue growth in 2005, fueled by its tools that help advertisers build online campaigns and track consumer response, as well as its data-analysis and direct-marketing businesses. "

more and more publishers realize that money is not with subscriptions but more probably to make with online advertising.

""We just kind of closed our eyes and jumped off a cliff, because we realized it was something we wanted to do," said Dyer, NewsOK's general manager. She said the decision stemmed in part from pressure from advertisers who wanted to know more about the site's readers before paying for online campaigns.

Nearly a year into the experiment, Dyer has few regrets. Registered users currently top 277,000, exceeding the weekday circulation of the site's parent newspaper, The Oklahoman. Only about one in 200 readers complained about registration. And NewsOK is optimistic about the potential for selling e-mail advertising to readers who said they are willing to receive messages. "