[by Dorian Benkoil] Bob Carrigan, president of publishers IDG, says that for his B2B publications, an online user is worth more than in print, because the “effective CPM” is much higher. They make a lot from lead generation, as much as $100-$200, and charge in tiers depending on how qualified the lead is (for example, whether it converts, how much info there is, how well the information integrates automatically with the marketer’s sales system, and so on). He’s not calculating how much it costs to produce the content - in some cases, it was produced for a magazine like PC World or MacWorld, or by their print staffs and then put online.

Nevertheless, he said, part of why his B2B users are worth so much online is that because inventory for his tech-oriented publications online is so tight, he’s able to charge phenomenal CPMs online, from $50 on up.

He also said there are more online advertisers than in print, though the aggregate online advertising dollars are not as high because advertisers can buy a smaller, targeted slice online than in print.