InsightIQ Blog

paidContent.debate

View more Blog Posts

Dec 7 2009

The debate continues.  Or resurfaces, as the case may be.  Now that ad revenue is tanking again, content publishers are revisiting their model. This pendulum has been swinging for almost a decade. The answer is not admonishing the ad model.  And it certainly is not arbitrarily walling off content.  Access to premium content...stuff you can't get anywhere else...should be paid.  And paying for it doesn't necessarily mean your experience will be advertisement free.  Engaged users who pay for content are that much more valuable to advertisers. 

Publishers need to be smart about how and when content is introduced, associated price points and ease of access.  They need to understand who their most valuable users are and how to migrate those that are of less value.  Value should be defined by level of engagement, ads viewed, paid products, and unrealized potential.  It's a balance.  If publishers think about their ad and content models more holisticly, i.e., what tools do I have to increase overall user value and associated revenue, they could avoid this either/or debate in the future. 

This article is filed under:

View more Blog Posts

Leave a Comment

  • Your email won't be published on our site.

All Fields Required