From the Guardian:

The BBC has abandoned plans to create a "licence fee" option for users of its international news website who were outraged by the introduction of advertising last year.

BBC director of global news, Richard Sambrook, said in October that the corporation intended to offer a subscription service for international users "in the next year" after scores of complaints over the introduction of advertising to bbc.com.

However, the BBC today confirmed it had dropped the idea. "We did look into it, but all the evidence from commercial operators is that what ever people say about wanting a subscription, it is not the case," said the BBC World managing director, Anne Barnard.

"A number of other operators have moved away from subscriptions," Barnard added.