Survey Finds Few Pay for Once Free Web Sites

we knew that, but there are other tidbits

[rcjordan]

only 12 percent have agreed to pay for access [news.excite.com]

[Macguru]

>other tidbits

Here is my favorite:

The survey was a follow-up to one published by Pew in March, which found that most Americans attributed the dot-com problems to either "greed" or "cluelessness."

Right on target!

[netcommr]

Why did they not tell me this before I got into the service end of things. Selling retail was a piece of cake.

[rcjordan]

Two years ago, everything was a piece of cake.

[cyril kearney]

What does this tell us?

Let's look at this problem in terms of magazines.

Elle, the woman's magazine a few months ago had a 400 or 600 page issue. That's a whole lot of content. Given most of the content is advertisements. It is what the readers want, advertisers flock to buy space and readers are willing to pay for the subscriptions.

Now look at the quantiity and qualiity of the sites that are looking to charge fees.

Do they impart a real value in some way? Their way does not have to be exactly like Elle. Financial information subscriptions can and do impart valuable advice.

All that survey does is convince me that the soup many of us are serving is too thin. A soup kitchen can give it away but not many are willing to buy it for dinner.