The BBC Trust's decision to defer the commercial proposals for BBC.com has been welcomed by the British Internet Publishers' Association, though the trade body has called on the trust to ensure that it thoroughly reviews the scheme.
"We hope it means that they really are reviewing the proposals, but it sounds from the wording like it's a fait accompli," said BIPA chair Hugo Drayton.
"The BBC have got themselves into a situation where they say the BBC must have an alternative source of funding, but that they also need to protect the reputation of the BBC. They point to News 24 as being a successful, commercial operation without damaging its reputation, but it's open to debate whether anyone actually watches News 24."
"The BBC is one reason why Britain punches above its weight internationally and it risks a lot by going this route. It's a huge philosophical question." He said that though the BBC may feel it received a bad licence fee settlement, it still has massive funding and none of the commercial pressures of its competitors.
Mr Drayton said the trust had not formally approached BIPA for information on the commercial impact of the proposals, but had contacted the trade body after reading about its concerns in MediaGuardian last week.
The Trust announced today that the decision would be deferred until late spring pending further research from executives.
A statement said the trust wanted further information, "particularly around how advertising would be reinvested in BBC Global News and the BBC's UK public services for the benefit of licence fee payers".
A spokesperson for BBC Worldwide said: "We will continue to work with the trust to provide the information and clarification they require."
Meanwhile, the National Union of Journalists also welcomed the deferral but said it wants the trust go further and scrap the ads plan completely.
"The corporation must resist the short-sighted tempatation of the extra revenue this would provide and understand the long-term damage it would cause," said general secretary Jeremy Dear.
"Adverts on any BBC website anywhere in the world would undermine the standing of the BBC as a public service broadcaster and weaken, not strengthen, their commercial position."
BBC editorial staff that have been campaigning against the proposals said they were pleased the scheme has not been rubber-stamped, but are not sure the trust has understood their primary concern that the reputation of the BBC's editorial could be undermined.
The BBC's website last month exceeded one billion page views for the first time, said BBC News editor on the BBC Editors' blog yesterday. The BBC site is ten years old this autumn.
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