A Fairfax Digital executive has rejected the idea of introducing paid-for-content across its online mastheads, arguing Rupert Murdoch has been “misinformed” about how to make money online.
Speaking at this morning’s AIMIA conference on the future of digital media, Dale McCarthy, director of corporate development at Fairfax Digital, said the debate around paid-for-content would be one of the “sizzling” online topics in early 2010, but added “I hope (the conversation) dies because I’m tired of it.”
McCarthy, who is responsible for developing strategies for future revenue streams at Fairfax Digital, did not deny the business, like rival News Corporation, would continue its talks on paid-for-content, but said, personally, she thought it would be an ineffective revenue model as it was simply transferring the print model of cover price to the internet.
“While I respect Mr Murdoch, the people advising him on (paid-for-content) are misinformed,” she said.
“As digital businesses we don’t need to be constrained by print media (revenue models). We need to think about what the internet revenue models are that we can take advantage of.”
While online publishers may struggle to claw back lost revenue across their print and online mastheads through advertising or introducing paid-for-content, McCarthy said the internet’s real “rivers of gold” is transactions.
“Don’t curl up in the foetal position because there’s lots of ways to make money on the internet,” she said. “The vast majority of our online revenue comes from transactions, not advertising.”
The online publisher’s travel site, Stayz.com.au, sees it take a cut of the profits made on hotel bookings, and it is able to make money from its business audience through its Invest Smart site by helping consumers choose managed funds.
McCarthy said other topics that will “sizzle” in 2010 include IPTV, as ISPs, telcos and other providers launch their respective services, but said we are still another eight to 10 years away from it “taking off” in Australia and will rely heavily on the roll out of the Federal Government’s National Broadband Network. Mobile phone apps are also expected to be on the rise next year.
