Now I’m starting to find that it’s no longer free.  
   In fact, more and more content on the web is no longer free. Webaholics will just have to begin their 12-step programs by making the decision which premium content and services are worthy of a credit card.  

   Our knee-jerk reaction is to become furious at these greedy sites for taking away the content that is rightfully ours. We then come to our senses, and realize that the hard-working people behind the curtain deserve some monetary rewards for the value they add to the web. 

   I am referring to those who update my fantasy football stats in real time; the magicians who transform choppy online video into a pleasurable viewing experience; and the analysts at WSJ.com who feed market connoisseurs the info they crave.

   Who's doing it right?

   The categories most successful at charging for content include business research, video-oriented programming, and the highly lucrative adult entertainment industry. 
    The key drivers for paid content are that they must enrich or entertain the customer. 

   There has to be something compelling or extremely useful behind the page where the site separates the freeloaders from the paying customers.
    A paying customer is, after all, a more demanding customer. Sites will be forced to focus more attention on improving customer service, and catering to specific user requests. The added revenue stream generated by paid content should enhance customer service.  

   Paid content is obviously a sensitive issue in the media industry. Finally the web has reached the critical mass, as 20 percent of Americans feel that the internet is the "most essential" medium in their lives, according to Arbitron/Edison Media Research data. 

   Some may argue that placing additional price tags on web content will only aggravate the digital divide dilemma and thicken the partition between the haves and the have-nots.  

   The government may need to offer subsidized subscriptions to schools and other public-sector organizations. Socially conscious publishers could take the first step and establish relationships with schools and public libraries.  

   So how is it all going to shake out?  
   I envision an online media landscape where certain niche sites act like cable television stations, providing programming geared toward a specific topic and attach a premium to that programming.

  Perhaps these sites will align with one another, allowing users to pay one price for a package. Similar to the cable television model, we would still pay for our ISP, which may include some “basic” sites, with the option to buy premium channel packages. 

   Big ISPs like AOL and MSN already have the partner relationships and user bases in place to make this happen. This is all speculation, so don’t hold me to it.  

   Now allow me put my selfish advertiser hat on, and let’s examine ways in which media professionals can leverage the emergence of paid content online.  
   In the print world, publications boast of paid circulation and single-copy sales.  Paid subscribers tend to be loyal and have a strong affinity to the content or editorial. With paid subscriptions also come the likelihood that the publisher will target by registration information. 

   The publisher can now sell a defined audience as inventory as opposed to simple impressions.  

   We may be looking at a holiday season where a grandmother buys her grandson a season pass to Fantasy Football Insider. There is even the scary possibility of a day where teenagers peddle yearly subscriptions to web sites to raise money for their school.  

   Either way, the reality is that advertising alone has failed keep a number of sites alive and that paid content will become increasingly prevalent in the years to come.
   The old adage holds true.

   You get what you pay for.  

December 6, 2002© 2002 Media Life

-James Kiernan has worked in interactive media since 1998, including the past three years at Foote, Cone and Belding, where he's a media supervisor.

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