In later years, EXE began to feature more product reviews and 'advertorial' content such as salary surveys, as its publishers sought to make the magazine more commercially focused. The magazine partnered with the UK-based Association of C and C++ Users to produce conference events. However, the market for computer magazines in general was in decline, and as knowledge and technical information about software development began to move primarily online, print titles like EXE began to lose readers and advertisers. Centaur shuttered the magazine in the summer of 2000, selling its content and branding - perhaps ironically - to the magazine that inspired its creation, Dr. Dobb's Journal.
