The BBC has announced it will most likely start including advertising on its international website from next Spring - because technically speaking our licence fees aren't meant to be providing a news service for the world (though, given the blatant editorial bias of most US news services, I think providing Americans with something a little more balanced is quite a good use of our licence fees).
Although the Beeb are keen to stress that they will be low key ads, while pointing out they already include advertising on their non-UK TV channels, the decision is likely to be criticised by the commercial sector, who argue that they will pull advertisers away from other websites - especially US news sites (of course, perhaps if those US news sites provided that aforementioned balanced coverage, the news junkies and therefore the advertisers would stay with them).
The ad funded international sites would be coordinated by the BBC's commercial division, BBC Worldwide, which has just reported profits for the last financial year of £89.4m. BBC Worldwide often comes in for criticism from the commercial sector, who accuse the company of using its access to licence fee funded BBC brands and resources to gain an unfair competitive advantage. Its mooted plans to launch a news magazine in the UK have come in for particular criticism, even though BBC Worldwide argue such a title would fulfill the provisos set by government for its commercial ventures.