As respected online publications such as Salon.com, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal removed all or most of their paid subscription models over the course of the decade, conventional wisdom formed that holding print content intended for a mainstream audience behind a pay wall was a noble but failed experiment.
But are paid subscriptions on the Internet poised to make a comeback, albeit in a different form?
There are several standard ways to make money in the highly competitive online publishing space. The dominant one for years has been free content supported by advertising, but the massive amount of supply (even of the high-quality stuff) coupled with a worldwide recession have pushed down rates that advertisers are willing to pay for ad space, squeezing profit margins for most online publishers.
TechCrunch’s MG Siegler points out a not-so-little secret about online display ads: most people couldn’t care less about them:
The web is increasingly filling up with ads. Many sites, including this one, have a bunch of them all around with the hopes that you’ll find one relevant to you, and click on it. Of course, most of you don’t. And if you do, it may be by accident.
While there are a number of other ways to make money at the online content game, such as using content to sell products and services, there are a few factors at play that could pave the way for online paid subscriptions to make major headway over the next few years.
An Anti-ad Network?
Siegler discussed online advertising while covering Contenture, an “anti-ad network” that allows publishers to group themselves together with the idea that Contenture members can pay a subscription fee to gain access to a group of member sites that have the ads removed.
Think about what the future of online browsing might look like when you take this idea to scale. For example, what if you could one day pay Contenture (or Facebook Connect, perhaps) $5 a month — a fee I’m grabbing out of the ether — with the blessed result of being able to visit thousands of high-quality web sites, absolutely ad-free? That could theoretically provide both an important revenue stream for publishers while improving the user experience at the same time.
Subscriptions For Mobile Content
Amazon, with its handheld content reader Kindle, is steadily moving forward — using a similar strategy as Apple in terms of monetizing the sale and distribution of MP3s to iPod devices — with the creation of a massive and sustainable business in getting people to pay for digital content.
While the Kindle is best known for selling books available from the Amazon.com catalog, there’s a growing number of magazine, newspaper and blog subscriptions that can be paid for using an existing Amazon account. Importantly, the Kindle is “training” a mainstream marketplace to pay for digital content, including a subscription component.
While an announcement on Wednesday (again covered by Siegler on TechCrunch) that Amazon is opening all blogs to become part of the Kindle Publishing for Blogs Beta program was not front-page news, it could be another notable step toward building the importance of online subscriptions for online publishers.
Consider, too, that the Kindle’s forthcoming DX release, with its 9.7-inch screen, has the opportunity to further challenge both the computer monitor and print for the attention of readers across the planet. Therefore “training” people to pay for content in the form of subscriptions on the Kindle may have vast repercussions for the future of digital content.
[the article was originally published at http://www.nytimes.com/external/gigaom/2009/05/14/14gigaom-paid-subscriptions-the-next-great-trend-in-online-10572.html]
Showing posts with label interactive advertising. Show all posts
Showing posts with label interactive advertising. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
Current Puts RFP Call on Twitter
Every day brings new uses for Twitter. Now, the short-messaging service has found its way into the agency-selection process.
The Current Network today became the first brand to solicit agencies via Twitter to receive RFPs for its account review. "This is a TwitteRFP for The Current Network. Searching for a full service ad agency partner," wrote Jordan Kretchmer, vp of brand at Current.
In a longer posting linked from the initial tweet, he explained the type of agency Current is seeking:
"Our ideal agency will help us formulate a brand/ad strategy that communicates who Current is through compelling, inspiring, and even controversial advertising. The ideal relationship for us is based on collaboration, dialogue, and a reciprocal excitement for the potential that Current has to attract a mass audience."
In an attempt to open the opaque RFP process, agencies are instructed to post their responses publicly.
Kretchmer said he hatched the idea earlier this week as a way to fill out the roster of shops Current will evaluate. He already has chosen five agencies to receive RFPs separately from Twitter.
"The whole idea is searching for an agency...that lives and breathes social media rather than claiming they do," he said.
So far, Kretchmer has gotten dozens of responses. Most are from small shops and include little more than an expression of interest. One to One Interactive, a Boston agency, went the farthest, putting together a video linked to in a reply to the "TwitteRFP."
Many of the responses have come from small creative firms that Kretchmer -- who worked at Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners before joining Current -- did not know.
"This is not a stunt at all," Kretchmer said. "I'm short-listing people with interesting responses."
At the very least, it's made the often-tiresome RFP process more intriguing, Kretchmer said. At Butler, Shine and earlier at Mullen, he often chafed at the formulaic nature of the mating dance between agencies and potential clients. "While this may not get us any different work at the end, the approach is much more fun," he said.
Shops have until Monday to respond to Kretchmer's call by replying to him using @jkretch. Kretchmer declined to state the size of the account. Current plans to have an agency chosen by June. Current has no agency relationship at present.
[the article was originally published at http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/digital/e3ic65aba1d643fc23caaf0f251ba580cbc]
The Current Network today became the first brand to solicit agencies via Twitter to receive RFPs for its account review. "This is a TwitteRFP for The Current Network. Searching for a full service ad agency partner," wrote Jordan Kretchmer, vp of brand at Current.
In a longer posting linked from the initial tweet, he explained the type of agency Current is seeking:
"Our ideal agency will help us formulate a brand/ad strategy that communicates who Current is through compelling, inspiring, and even controversial advertising. The ideal relationship for us is based on collaboration, dialogue, and a reciprocal excitement for the potential that Current has to attract a mass audience."
In an attempt to open the opaque RFP process, agencies are instructed to post their responses publicly.
Kretchmer said he hatched the idea earlier this week as a way to fill out the roster of shops Current will evaluate. He already has chosen five agencies to receive RFPs separately from Twitter.
"The whole idea is searching for an agency...that lives and breathes social media rather than claiming they do," he said.
So far, Kretchmer has gotten dozens of responses. Most are from small shops and include little more than an expression of interest. One to One Interactive, a Boston agency, went the farthest, putting together a video linked to in a reply to the "TwitteRFP."
Many of the responses have come from small creative firms that Kretchmer -- who worked at Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners before joining Current -- did not know.
"This is not a stunt at all," Kretchmer said. "I'm short-listing people with interesting responses."
At the very least, it's made the often-tiresome RFP process more intriguing, Kretchmer said. At Butler, Shine and earlier at Mullen, he often chafed at the formulaic nature of the mating dance between agencies and potential clients. "While this may not get us any different work at the end, the approach is much more fun," he said.
Shops have until Monday to respond to Kretchmer's call by replying to him using @jkretch. Kretchmer declined to state the size of the account. Current plans to have an agency chosen by June. Current has no agency relationship at present.
[the article was originally published at http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/digital/e3ic65aba1d643fc23caaf0f251ba580cbc]
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