RE: Salon.com and taller ads

From: Michael Martinez <Michael_at_xenite.org>
Date: Thu 26 Apr 2001 10:54:07 -0500

MICHAEL MARTINEZ <Michael_at_xenite.org> WROTE:

>If anyone on this list thinks that the business community
>can just CHARGE FOR CONTENT, forget it! Wash that nonsense

TO WHICH JUSTIN W. HITT <Justin.Hitt_at_hittpansophism.com> REPLIED:

>People buy magazines. Why wouldn't they pay for content
>online in a particular service that provided them high
>quality articles and other services for a fee? The
>same information may be free elsewhere, but the customer
>is paying for the convienence and filtering.

What convenience and filtering? Are we speaking
strictly of magazine Web sites (such as
http://www.wired.com/ ) or are we talking about any
and all business Web sites? Is your average hardware
store site going to be able to edit and filter guest
articles? I don't think so. But then, I can't find
any really interesting content at
http://www.acehardware.com/ which will keep me coming
back. Their "Helpful hardware hints" section is just
a pitch section. No one is going to pay for access to
those tips.

But, to answer your question directly: Most people
don't want to pay for views of Web sites. It's hard
enough to get them to pay for files to download (such
as electronic books -- people will, of course, buy
software). Getting people to pay for the privilege of
viewing a Web page, that takes some really fine content.

For example, I'm subscribed to Variety's free headline
service. I have no intention of ever paying them for
full access, however, as even their exclusive stories
are usually reported within a few days in free online
newsletters. On the other hand, as annoying as it is
to have to log in to the New York Times' Web site, I
registered with their service and will continue to use
it as long as it is free.

Am I typical? I can't say. But all the news reports
I've read about marketing studies indicate most people
are not willing to pay yet. So, if the business
community wants people to pay, it's got some work
ahead of it.

And it's becoming so easy for us to customize our start
pages, newsfeeds, and even newsletter content, that
eventually the "convenience and filtering" argument
isn't going to make much sense.


Michael Martinez
 Science Fiction and Fantasy info_at_xenite.org
  Visualizing Middle-earth, a book for all Tolkien fans
   http://www.xenite.org/



Received on Thu Apr 26 2001 - 10:54:07 CDT