A UK survey by the Association of Online Publishers says that 7 in 10 newspapers, magazines and TV firms intend to charge for access to their online content within the next year.
A third of those who intend to charge favour a pay for use model, with a only small fee being involved.
The firms surveyed said they would charge for special reports, applications that are downloaded, archived material, and content designed for mobile devices.
86% said that they either do, or will provide, sites accessible to mobiles within the next year.
Social networking sites are the current high growth area in terms of members, with Facebook, established three years ago, now exceeding 300 million members and growing at 5 million members a week. Facebook announced that they are about to become profitable, based on the advertising revenue they generate. Facebook has a current valuation estimate of $5 billion.
Twitter is another site with rapid growth, with 45 million users currently. It has raised $100 million in venture capital but as yet has no income stream. The have altered their terms and conditions recently to allow advertising.
MySpace was the early star, having acquired 50 million users in just two years, but it is now falling out of fashion, having reduced its workforce by 30%, and it is losing advertising revenue at a rate of 15% each year.
Linkedin is a site for professionals which is profitable and currently has 43 million members. 81% are university graduates with an average age of 41 and an average income of £75,000.
While traditional media firms will try to make charging for content acceptable, there is doubt as to how well that will work. Specialist titles such as The Wall Street Journal have a successful subscription model, but generally people are averse to paying for content they have been used to receiving free.
We take the Google view that information should be free, supported by advertising. Our UK Local Search facility in our Business Directory sends prospects to the 1.6 million businesses listed, with no cost to them.
Monte Huebsch, CEO
A third of those who intend to charge favour a pay for use model, with a only small fee being involved.
The firms surveyed said they would charge for special reports, applications that are downloaded, archived material, and content designed for mobile devices.
86% said that they either do, or will provide, sites accessible to mobiles within the next year.
Social networking sites are the current high growth area in terms of members, with Facebook, established three years ago, now exceeding 300 million members and growing at 5 million members a week. Facebook announced that they are about to become profitable, based on the advertising revenue they generate. Facebook has a current valuation estimate of $5 billion.
Twitter is another site with rapid growth, with 45 million users currently. It has raised $100 million in venture capital but as yet has no income stream. The have altered their terms and conditions recently to allow advertising.
MySpace was the early star, having acquired 50 million users in just two years, but it is now falling out of fashion, having reduced its workforce by 30%, and it is losing advertising revenue at a rate of 15% each year.
Linkedin is a site for professionals which is profitable and currently has 43 million members. 81% are university graduates with an average age of 41 and an average income of £75,000.
While traditional media firms will try to make charging for content acceptable, there is doubt as to how well that will work. Specialist titles such as The Wall Street Journal have a successful subscription model, but generally people are averse to paying for content they have been used to receiving free.
We take the Google view that information should be free, supported by advertising. Our UK Local Search facility in our Business Directory sends prospects to the 1.6 million businesses listed, with no cost to them.
Monte Huebsch, CEO
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