Forbes.com, a popular news site whether you accept its own reported figures of over 15 million unique visitors worldwide or comScore's number of 13.2 million, attracts visitors thanks in part to its racy, provocative and wealth-obsessed lifestyle features that have little to do with business news, according to some competitors.

Such content is unlikely to be published in the print edition of the magazine, but has recently found a home online. For example, an article last week titled "Don't Marry Career Women" suggested that men who do are likely to be cheated on, have a dirty house and ultimately get a divorce. Responses called the post sexist and Forbes.com withdrew the article - but later pairing it with an opposing view titled "Don't Marry a Lazy Man," writes the New York Times (via MediaBuyerPlanner). The piece, renamed Careers and Marriage, was the site's most popular posting of the day.

Such posts, along with other recent articles such as "America's Drunkest Cities" and "Top Topless Beaches," do not make up a large part of the site's reporting but are popular with readers. Jeff Lanctot, VP and general manager of Avenue A Razorfish believes that such content could pose risks for the site if overdone, pointing out that "if it is a salacious Paris Hilton link that drops you at Forbes.com, that might be an issue" for an advertiser.

However, James Spanfeller, chief executive of Forbes.com, points out that advertisers can specify what type of editorial content they wish to appear next to, so those seeking to be associated with hard business news would not be paired with the feature on topless beaches, for example.