Advertising edges out online subscriptions

Increasing numbers of media heavyweights are eradicating subscription to their websites, and are plumping for advertising-driven funding instead.

In what will be seen as a welcome move for the millions of people who access media websites, the advent of free online news services seems on the rise. CNN is just the latest addition to a long line of companies which have recently launched free versions of their previously subscription-only websites. Other leading names such as The Economist and The Wall Street Journal have followed similar patterns, and are now raising most of their capital from online advertising which appears alongside the free content. These companies are also intending to earn revenue from charging visitors to use certain aspects of the site, such as discussion forums, or specialised services. Media tycoons Emap, who manage over seventy different magazines including FHM, Closer, Grazia and Today’s Golfer, also offer charged services such as online diet planning and tee-time booking services on their websites, which they say people are more than willing to pay for.

This combined model of free content alongside paid-for extras and revenue from advertising seems to be the direction most media websites are heading in, with previous subscription-only versions being phased out. CNN’s former subscription-based site CNN Pipeline, never appeared to attract huge popularity, however The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the other hand counts 931 000 subscribers amongst its visitors online, 33% of which also subscribe to the print version of the journal. Now WSJ is intending to increase the amount of subscribers to its paper edition through promotion of it through the free website. The Economist is using similar tactics to fund the new free model of their website, as well as offering premium subscribed services to online visitors. This joint model of website funding looks set to be the shape of things to come for an increasing number of publisher’s websites.

Source:
www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/jul/26/guardianweeklytechnologysection.it1 (July 26th 2007)