Another publication bit the dust. Conde Nast group president/publishing director David Carey informed the staff of Portfolio this morning that the publication will cease publication immediately. The publication’s downfall was, like all the other doomed organizations, advertising money. 

The most recent number from the Publisher’s Information Bureau showed that advertising pages in the magazine were down 60.9 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to the same quarter last year. The magazine had an average print circulation of about 415,000.

Last October, Portfolio’s frequency was cut from 12 times a year to 10 and its Web site, Portfolio.com, laid off the majority of its staff. The magazine was designed as an upscale business publication and won a National Magazine Award in 2008 for its “Briefs” section, but it failed to make significant inroads in the crowded business magazine market, which includes BusinessWeek, Fortune and Forbes.

It is a shame that out of the business magazines, Portfolio was the first to go as it tends to be better than the others regarding content. I was especially fond of Portfolio’s blogs, particularly those penned by Felix Salmon (who departed recently for Reuters) and Ryan Avent.