A unexpected group has come out against plans to plaster advertising on the BBC’s international websites. The idea is strongly opposed by many BBC staff. Now, the opposition comes from media companies which are part of the British Interactive Publishers Alliance.

Usually the BIPA takes issue with anything the BBC does online, seeing it as unfair competition since the Beeb is publicly funded. But the issue of ads has ruffled their feathers. The alliance has called on the BBC Trust to kill the plans, arguing they would have a “serious negative impact” on their commercial hopes.

This is a real concern for media organisations that are struggling to boost online profits to make up for diminishing revenues.

The BBC ads would only be seen by international visitors, not in the UK. But they would still have a knock-on effect on commercial websites as many UK sites attract large numbers of foreign visitors, especially from the US.

You can understand why media companies such as News International, Sky and The Telegraph group are worried about the BBC ads plan. It could stall their efforts to break into the lucrative US online advertising market.