Salon.com Urges Ad Collaboration

The chief of struggling Internet media company Salon.com called on his Web media peers to share marketing efforts with the goal of limiting their reliance on online advertising services firms and cutting costs. “I do think it’s silly for us to keep reinventing the wheel,” Salon.com Chairman and Editor in Chief David Talbot told an audience of Internet professionals at a New York conference. Talbot’s proposal comes as Internet media companies have faced rising pressure from Wall Street to produce profits sooner rather than later. Most “dot-coms” have seen their market valuations tumble in this environment. Talbot said he would organize a “summit” for Web sites interested in collaborating and promoting one another’s services. Shares of San Francisco-based Salon.com fell 19 cents to close at $1.50 on Nasdaq.