QOTD: Would You Pay For Content Online?
Is the content you read online worth paying for?
Over the last year, newspapers have seen a steady decline in print sales, with more readers logging online to get their daily dose of current affairs. Whether or not it signifies the death knell of the newspaper and magazine business, the industry is faced with a very big problem: how do you make online revenue match the money made from print sales?
One solution that nobody seems to be a fan of (that is, nobody but newspapers) is introducing subscriptions to the sites. Similar to the way you subscribe to a certain newspaper in the real world, you'd subscribe to them online. Instead of having the newspaper delivered to your door every morning, you'd log online and view the news from the comfort of your own home or office.
While tons of people are opposed to the idea of paying a subscription for news on the internet, there's a significant amount who are of the opinion that if the content is of a good quality, then why shouldn't we pay for it?
Today's question of the day is would you consider paying for the online content that you consume each day? If so, how would the content have to be different for you to feel that it's worth paying for it?
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Jane McEntegart is a writer, editor, and marketing communications professional with 17 years of experience in the technology industry. She has written about a wide range of technology topics, including smartphones, tablets, and game consoles. Her articles have been published in Tom's Guide, Tom's Hardware, MobileSyrup, and Edge Up.
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p05esto Nope, wouldn't pay. Unless all the free sources went away, then I might $20 a year for a news subscription service that I could customize to include the types of news I want to see (world, human interest, tech, etc). Otherwise, I'm too busy and news isn't all that important to me...rarely affects my personal life.Reply -
I find think charging for news content online is a horrible idea that will fail quickly.Reply
Web designers know that simply adding an extra click to the process of reaching content will dissuade most users. Sites that have added registration saw their readership drop tremendously (and most news sites that once required registration have ended the process quickly).
Even if they charge 10 cents per month I predict most users will refuse to pull out their credit card and will instead find their news elsewhere.
News sites need to stop whining that ads are not profitable enough to survive. CNN.com has always been free and is extremely profitable. -
wesblog I find think charging for news content online is a horrible idea that will fail quickly.Reply
Web designers know that simply adding an extra click to the process of reaching content will dissuade most users. Sites that have added registration saw their readership drop tremendously (and most news sites that once required registration have ended the process quickly).
Even if they charge 10 cents per month I predict most users will refuse to pull out their credit card and will instead find their news elsewhere.
News sites need to stop whining that ads are not profitable enough to survive. CNN.com has always been free and is extremely profitable. -
jellico Generally, no. Putting aside the cost, it becomes far to difficult to manage, and keep track of all of the different subscriptions. Hell, it's hard enough remembering passwords for all of the different websites that require registration, but which you only visit once in a while.Reply -
jcknouse Nope. If I want to read a newspaper, I get it from my neighbors. If I want to read it online, I can't just log into their account anytime I want.Reply
Plus, most news is available on television or by word of mouth...or at a public library already. -
I'm on the internet for the free stuff I get!Reply
Not to pay!
I'm amazed at the massive amounts of free stuff we already get!
But I'm not going to pay anything, unless I buy an actual thing off the internet like a purchase on Amazon or Ebay. -
brandonvi NoReply
the only thing i would ever pay for that was a service over the internet would be MMORPG games other then that i have never seen anything i would find worth paying for service wise like papers or anything else -
pochacco007 no one is willing to pay for an online newspaper subscription like that from the new york times because those type of information has become free due to the internet.Reply
what the internet has done is make information inflated. in the beginning of the internet life cycle , it was okay to charge subscription because information on the internet was limited due to the availability of the net to everyone. jump several years from that time to the current present, majority of the people have a form of connection where they can go on to the internet. because of this , people are inputting more information into the "internet system". as more information is being put into it, the less value it gets.
game sites like ign or newspaper sites like new york times are wasting their time if they intend to charge people.