[WEB4LIB] Re: Britannica subscriber access

[Dan Lester]

At 09:06 AM 11/24/99 -0800, Michael Sauers wrote:
> > Perhaps they can make more money from
> > advertisers than from subscribers.
>
>If they could have made more money from subscribers than from advertisers,
>they wouldn't have changed.

Much more likely, when they first started the charging business they were 
clueless to the realities of the internet marketplace.  There is VERY 
strong resistance to paying for information on the web, even though it may 
be slightly weaker than it was a few years ago.  Now they've learned they 
can't make it with subscriptions, so they're doing what everyone else in 
business on the web has learned....advertisers make it go.   And, this is 
not really much different from print publications, where the costs, and 
some of the profits, come from advertisers.  Subscribers are a big pain and 
cost about as much as they bring in.  However, if you don't have them, you 
can't charge as much for your ads.  That whole mess may be the biggest 
relief to those selling or giving away information on the web.

cheers

dan

--
Good, Fast, and Cheap: Which two of the three would you like?
Dan Lester, 3577 East Pecan, Boise, ID 83716 USA 208-383-0165
dan at 84.com   http://www.84.com/  http://www.postcard.org/