Travel guide company Lonely Planet has bowed to the pressures of commerce and is accepting adverts on its website for the first time.
The change ends three decades during which the firm proudly boasted that its publications were untainted by advertising.
The independent travel guide publisher has hired advertising company ad 2-one to sell advertising space, email sponsorship and what it calls "advertising-funded content solutions" on LonelyPlanet.com, which has 2 million unique users around the globe.
The publisher made light of the radical policy change with a cheery message on its website.
"Hi everyone. From next week we will have advertising on our website. Hopefully this will only feel strange for a second!"
The company said advertising would not compromise its independent advice.
"Our reviews and recommendations are based solely on our authors' opinions and will not be related to the advertising on the website.
"We do not, and never will, accept payment in exchange for an opinion, review, recommendation or endorsement and we will not provide favourable treatment to organisations who advertise on the site.
"We'll try to attract advertising which is helpful and relevant to travellers. We will not allow any intrusive or annoying advertising. Definitely no pop-ups!"
Lonely Planet said the ban on advertising in its guidebooks would remain.
"Lonely Planet is looking to expand and launch a number of exciting new initiatives that will make the site an even more compelling place to visit for independent travellers", said Cameron Holland, the global e-commerce manager at Lonely Planet.
"Ad 2-one are global players and their business approach and philosophy reassured us that Lonely Planet advertising sales would be handled with the care and understanding that this established and much-loved brand deserves."
But the company will no longer be able to boast, as it does in its guidebooks, that refusing to carry adverts boosts its claims to independence and sets it apart from its many rivals.
"We are really excited to be able to take LonelyPlanet.com to market for the first time," said Julian Miall, the director of ad 2-one.
"You would be hard-pushed to find a more trusted, reputable and independent website, and we're delighted that Lonely Planet felt ad 2-one was the right company to develop this significant new revenue stream for the company."
The company was founded in 1973 over a kitchen table by Australians Tony and Maureen Wheeler after a journey across Europe and Asia to Australia.
Lonely Planet publishes more than 600 titles in English and more than other 12 languages.
It also has a TV company that produces and develops travel and factual programming for international broadcasters under the Lonely Planet brand.
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