Paying for Online Content
A recent report from Nielsen shows, perhaps not surprisingly internet users are more willing to pay for some internet services than we once thought.
The question of payment for services is always in and out the headlines. Consumers are used to trading: they have the ability to access online content and in return they have to put up with advertising. For a long time it was thought that it would be difficult to change this model on a wide scale because of consumer resistance.
As more and more content becomes available for free the internet audience is diluted and advertising is spread more thinly.
As we recently reported Rupert Murdoch is complaining that Google is taking sections his newspapers stories and publishing them online without having to pay for the privilege.
Matt Brittin, Managing Director of Google UK suggested that one of the ways that the publishing industry could stay vibrant is to charge for some of their content. It is ironic that Google itself is producing more and more content and applications for free.
The latest report from Nielsen however suggests that this may not be such a problem as was once thought. Their evidence points to the willingness of consumers to pay for quality content.
Nielsen’s study surveyed more than 27,000 consumers in 54 countries and asked them about their attitudes to online content and what kind of things they were prepared to pay for.
There was an overall willingness to pay for quality content but there were large variations depending on participant’s geography, demographics and content type in question.
On the whole people were more willing to pay for things that they were already paying for and in particular for professional services and information.
Only 39% of Europeans were prepared to have more advertising in order to keep free content compared to 57% of respondents in Africa, the Middle East and Pakistan.