Is online surfing about to become more expensive?
The news that Rupert Murdoch and the Financial Times are looking towards paid content on their news websites bring ever close an increase in the cost of online surfing, with other business arenas obviously keen to introduce new income streams to their businesses. The truth is that the off-line news and media arena has suffered substantially over the last few months as the recession has hit home and more and more companies have cut back on their advertising.
However, it has to be said that services which require readers to pay upfront may not work in the main market but may work well in the corporate and business arena. Whether we will see a divergence of existing media operations, with some charging and some remaining free (with online adverts), remains to be seen but the online news arena is certainly going through a major change.
If the news model of paid content does work, it is highly likely that we will see a vast array of other websites and other industries follow suit. This could well leave the off-line market in disarray and attract more and more business to the online arena. It has taken some time but it looks as though the Internet may not be "free to view" in the future.
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