At a recent conference on interactive publishing in Zurich - "The Push for Revenues" - there was only one thing on the mind of most of the 300 people present: could they as mainstream publishers, actually make money on the Net? For most, that means supplementing meagre advertising revenues with subscription revenues, writes The Economist.That causes a problem. Two-thirds of the web users say that they will not pay for online content on principle. Some worry about credit-card security, and most believe that once they have paid for a PC, a second telephone line and a subscription to an Internet service provider, everything else should be gratis. And because of the choice of free content appears almost limitless, few of them will miss the site that has the cheek to seek payment.
The "content owner" Jennifer Ringley has persuaded several thousand virtual Peeping Toms to part with $15 for an annual subscription that entitles them to receive live pictures of her daily life, transmitted from a digitalcamera.
Ringley has created a robust business model, but if straight publishing can do the same is still debatable. After observing the experience of pioneers such as the Wall Street Journal and The Economist, several publishers have in the past few weeks introduced paid-for elements to their sites or announced plans to do so. They include The New York Times and Business Week.
Since it is easier to justify a purchase if you think the information might help you make money, business-led content will be easier to sell than general editorial material.
Look at the interactive edition of The Wall Street Journal, for instance. Subscribers get a sort of Global Wall Street Journal with content from all the regional editions, fuller versions of edited stories, hyperlinks to related articles in the archive and company briefing books. They are also offered an interactive personal-portfolio tracking service and moderated discussion areas.
Role of privateinvestment
It's no secret that private investment has played an important part in America's long-running economic expansion. As the government has tighetened its belt and deficits have tumbled, so interest rates have fallen and in turn encouraging private investment, reports The Economist.
A chart in the latest Economic Report of the President, published on February 10, shows that private fixed investment - investment in factories, business equipment and houses - has contributed over 30 per cent to America's GDP growth since 1991, while government spending accounted for only 1.7 per cent. During the 1980s expansion, in contrast, public spending made up about 16 per cent of GDP growth, slightly more than private fixed investment. One result of this surge in private investment has been a huge growth in the capacity of American firms: for the past three years, average annual growth in capacity has been higher than at any time since 1968.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
