The BBC has put a figure on how much advertising it has sold on BBC.com. The controversial decision to plaster ads on the international version of the BBC News website and other properties made £1.5 million ($2.96 million) from ads and sponsorships since its November launch. The ads have been appearing on the news, weather and home pages. By comparison, the BBC earned £7 million ($13.8 million) from the distribution

This is slightly off-topic, but might have some relevance to explain the slow development of online journalism in Canada. E-commerce is on the rise in Canada, according to the latest official figures from Statistics Canada. Internet sales hit an estimated $62.7 billion in 2007, up 26% from 2006. But e-commerce is still to make an impact in Canada, representing a relatively small fraction of total economic activity. Stats Canada reports