The way out of the paywall debate is for newspapers to become the online authority on what to buy and what to doTake a look at Google’s homepage and compare it with any newspaper’s homepage. One difference is striking: google.com, the most viewed media output on the planet, contains no ads. And, unlike the newspaper industry, Google doesn’t have any financial problems.There is a lesson to be learned here. Google understood that blindly converting its users’ eyeballs into money is not enough. The key is to develop a revenue model that makes the most of its unique advantage online. That advantage is being an online search platform, and the system it has developed integrates perfectly into that, by displaying relevant text ads for each search. Newspapers, by contrast, have tried importing the old media’s ad revenue model to the web – and failed.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/organgrinder/2010/apr/12/newspapers-future-online-authorityAlso see:Google CEO says newspapers can make money online [AP]
Google Inc. Chief Executive Eric Schmidt told a group of editors Sunday that he is confident that newspapers will find new ways to make money online by harnessing the vast reach of the Internet.Media executives have accused Google of draining readers and advertising from newspapers’ Web sites. But in a speech to open the annual conference of the American Society of News Editors, Schmidt said Google recognizes that newspapers are vital to democracy and provide a critical source of online content.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/12/AR2010041201426.html
Newspapers: the future
The way out of the paywall debate is for newspapers to become the online authority on what to buy and what to do