Dow Jones Gets The (Instant) Message

Instant messaging continues its march toward becoming a widely accepted information medium. In the latest expansion of business uses for IM, Dow Jones & Co. is experimenting with the technology as an emerging channel for delivering premium subscription content.

Dow Jones Newswires says it will soon begin distributing several of its wire services through Communicator Inc.'s Hub IM, a private IM network that caters to Wall Street's buy-side fixed-income securities market. Fixed-income traders and their clients will be able to view real-time information ranging from general business news and capital markets updates to foreign-exchange reports and corporate filings, all from within their Hub IM window.

The real-time scrolling ticker will be available to Hub IM users who are subscribers, much the way information is supplied to subscribers via other financial-services desktop tools, including products from Reuters and Bloomberg, says Joe Laurenzano, Dow Jones Newswires' director of partners and alliances.

The service also will let subscribers participate in real-time forums with Dow Jones experts and could provide a channel for conducting instant news polls. But Laurenzano says how far Dow Jones will go in distributing over IM networks will depend on how many IM services will offer access to professional communities that are logical audiences for the company's content.