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FT.com this week announced details of its May relaunch which will see charges brought in for about a fifth of its content.

There will be plenty of new data, tools and services, said Pearson's business bible's online offshoot. However, the sting in the tail is a new two-tier charging structure, which means the most valuable assets will come with a price.

Although 80% of the site will remain free, FT.com - which attracts about 2.7 million unique monthly users - has introduced subscriptions for the most impressive features.

Users will have to pay £75 a year for so-called "Level 1"
services, for which they will get access to all FT journalism, including full access to the Lex column, access to a five-year FT archive and a view of the front page the night before publication.

"Level 2" subscribers will get all that plus new professional standard research and monitoring tools, including a global database of data on 18,000 listed companies across 55 exchanges and fast access to 12 million
articles from 500 of the world's top media sources. However, this will cost them £200 a year.

The majority of the content and services will remain free, including the latest news and selections from the week's analysis and comment, including one Lex note per day.

FT.com will also be giving its proposition to advertisers "a major overhaul" and will be offering "unparalleled customer targeting and increased creativity and flexibility".

It will also carry a variety of
the latest interactive  advertising
formats.

FT.com commercial director Claire Payne said: "Advertising with FT.com enables advertisers to target some of the world's most influential, educated and high-earning decision makers.

"The capacity for rich media advertising and enhanced
targeting ability are exciting developments for FT.com and ensure that our advertisers can now reach FT.com's high-calibre audience more creatively than ever before.

"Our business model has always been based on introducing a subscriptions element when the time was right. FT.com has a strong and diverse set
of revenue streams, led by advertising, syndication and
e-commerce. These will continue to be the strongest source of
revenue for us in the next 12 months, with subscriptions expected to account for no more than 10% overall."

A marketing campaign to highlight the new FT.com launches this week and will include press
advertising within FT Group publications, direct marketing
e-mails and direct mail. The trade marketing campaign includes advertising in key trade media titles.