The New York Times is weighing whether to stop its influential advertising column as Stuart Elliot penned his final piece Dec. 19, according to the New York Post's Keith Kelly.

Kelly reports that "word is circulating" that the Times will drop the column, although a paper spokeswoman said "questions like this one are not likely to be settled until early in the new year."

Elliott, who is taking a buyout from the paper after writing the must-reed ad column for 23 years, wrote his last column for the Dec. 19 paper, reflecting on the top five changes he observed on Madison Avenue over the past 25 years.