More Online Publishers Now Offering “Free” Ad-supported Web Content
Rupert Murdoch’s announcement this week that he expects to stop charging for access to the Wall Street Journal’s Web site is the latest example of a publisher giving up on the subscription-based business model — a significant shift in the evolution of online content.
In recent months, the Economist, the New York Times and the Financial Times have all moved content out from “behind the wall,” an industry metaphor for the location of paid online content.
Other publications, including the Los Angeles Times’ entertainment listings, Salon and Slate (owned by The Washington Post Co.), have tried the subscription model but switched to free access. Others have settled on a hybrid plan — for example, most of the stories in the print version of ESPN’s monthly magazine can be read free on ESPN.com, but the site charges for chats with sportswriters and other Web-only content.
The lesson seems to be that online consumers will pay only for niche content of intense interest to them — such as specialized industry news from trade publications, inside sports news…