how can you make money if it’s free?
March 28th, 2008 at 07:56am Jennie Pollock
wired magazine tells you this new movement of “freeconomics” all goes back to mr. gillette.
it’s a long article, but here is the message in a nutshell:
It’s now clear that practically everything Web technology touches starts down the path to gratis, at least as far as we consumers are concerned. Storage now joins bandwidth (YouTube: free) and processing power (Google: free) in the race to the bottom. Basic economics tells us that in a competitive market, price falls to the marginal cost. There’s never been a more competitive market than the Internet, and every day the marginal cost of digital information comes closer to nothing.
yes, this is why your dvd player costs $29 instead of $290. and why media companies don’t charge for some of their publications.
Entry Filed under: Online
7 Comments Add your own
1. Jim O' Neill | March 28th, 2008 at 8:03 am
Boy that Dickerson Neiman ad is obnoxious. It even keeps you from getting to the news because it invisibly envelops the whole page, so when you think you are clicking on a news story, you are actually hitting the ad. You need to set some rules on what kind of advertising you will accept.
2. Brew House | March 31st, 2008 at 1:48 pm
I agree, them ads is really kinda annoying. But a lot of things is goin downhill at the newspaper these days. What about it Register Star? Don\’t you think you\’re confusing people?
3. Brew House | April 1st, 2008 at 10:27 am
Nothing? No response about the intrusiveness of your ads?
4. jennie pollock | April 1st, 2008 at 10:49 am
ok, here i am.
yes, those takeover ads can be frustrating and tricky, but they also have proven effective for advertisers. they send the message and deliver the clickthroughs.
once i reduce the takeover ad off to the side, i don’t have any other problems.
i see it the same way as label ads on the front page. some people don’t like them, either (my dad, for one). but they can be “removed,” too.
jennie pollock, deputy managing editor
5. Axel Rosa | April 2nd, 2008 at 8:59 am
Those annoying ads pay for the news that you read for free online.
There’s no such thing as a free lunch.
Would you pay an online subscription to read the news without ads? How much?
6. Brew House | April 2nd, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Axel - I am not talking about all ads. I am talking about those that transparently float across the screen across content. Would you be happy to receive your printed newspaper with an ad over the top of the headlines, photos and text?
7. Jim O'Neill | April 2nd, 2008 at 3:12 pm
Exactly Brew. Axel, please understand…we’re not against advertising. We know how the bills are paid. But some Web sites are accepting advertising that is more than annoying…it interrupts and interferes with the experience. This particular ad, even if you wait until it flows off the page and then click, you get sent to the main advertising.
By the way, I am a paid newspaper subscriber. I also enjoy reading online.
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