Suff
06-18-2005, 05:09 PM
Interesting development in on-line commerce, and content.
Just when you think the Internet found a Model....it moves.
Yahoo (Quote, Chart) announced it has started testing a service that allows users to search subscriber-only Web sites such as LexisNexis and the Wall Street Journal Online, areas known as "Deep Web."
The new search service, Yahoo Search Subscriptions, moves the Internet media company closer to rival Google as a distributor and aggregator of paid-for content, allowing people to search for information on sites that search engines typically cannot access.
http://www.internetnews.com/xSP/article.php/3513736
This is in line with the Free Video thread on the horse racing section of this board. Also, we often discuss editorial, copyright, and access issues on the board.
Look at it this way. Wall Street Journal is pay for content site. Probably the most successful in terms of Revenue stream. 700,000 paid subscribers who pay a monthly fee. Here's the problem with that. They have a tiny fraction of the unique users demographic. Forbes.com by contrast, has 10.8 Million Unique users. WSJ reports 5.3 million unique users to its front page, but that number drops to less than 100 thousand on deep storys and fring content. That has no advertising value. On WSJ it has some, because the demographics are elite. But 100,000 nobody's on any other site produce little advertising rates.
So as much the NY TIMES, and many other sites are thinking about requiring Registration and/or Subscription. The market pressure for Mass Audience has them rethinking that by partnering with YAHOO. WSJ is essentially giving away the Content now, if you come through YAHOO.
It makes sense. BusinessWeek.com , Forbes.com, even Inc.com have stolen readership from the Dow Jones Corp. SmartMoney.com, which Dow Jones owns, is outperforming the WSJ on-line in advertising revenue. The free Content brings the people, The people bring the advertisers.
To put it in further contrast. Matt Drudge gets as many users to his front page as the NYTIMES does. One could suggest that the DRUDGE audience is more attractive to some advertisers than the NYTIMES Audience. NY Times has been the king of PRINT media prices for Decades.
The internet is still such a moving target... One wrong move can kill you. People can move by the Millions in a second! If you invest 100's of millions on a model that is outdated in two years time....your cooked.
Just when you think the Internet found a Model....it moves.
Yahoo (Quote, Chart) announced it has started testing a service that allows users to search subscriber-only Web sites such as LexisNexis and the Wall Street Journal Online, areas known as "Deep Web."
The new search service, Yahoo Search Subscriptions, moves the Internet media company closer to rival Google as a distributor and aggregator of paid-for content, allowing people to search for information on sites that search engines typically cannot access.
http://www.internetnews.com/xSP/article.php/3513736
This is in line with the Free Video thread on the horse racing section of this board. Also, we often discuss editorial, copyright, and access issues on the board.
Look at it this way. Wall Street Journal is pay for content site. Probably the most successful in terms of Revenue stream. 700,000 paid subscribers who pay a monthly fee. Here's the problem with that. They have a tiny fraction of the unique users demographic. Forbes.com by contrast, has 10.8 Million Unique users. WSJ reports 5.3 million unique users to its front page, but that number drops to less than 100 thousand on deep storys and fring content. That has no advertising value. On WSJ it has some, because the demographics are elite. But 100,000 nobody's on any other site produce little advertising rates.
So as much the NY TIMES, and many other sites are thinking about requiring Registration and/or Subscription. The market pressure for Mass Audience has them rethinking that by partnering with YAHOO. WSJ is essentially giving away the Content now, if you come through YAHOO.
It makes sense. BusinessWeek.com , Forbes.com, even Inc.com have stolen readership from the Dow Jones Corp. SmartMoney.com, which Dow Jones owns, is outperforming the WSJ on-line in advertising revenue. The free Content brings the people, The people bring the advertisers.
To put it in further contrast. Matt Drudge gets as many users to his front page as the NYTIMES does. One could suggest that the DRUDGE audience is more attractive to some advertisers than the NYTIMES Audience. NY Times has been the king of PRINT media prices for Decades.
The internet is still such a moving target... One wrong move can kill you. People can move by the Millions in a second! If you invest 100's of millions on a model that is outdated in two years time....your cooked.