5 ms·

I like the idea that ad-driven business are not sustainable. Ads are manipulative almost by definition and the world would probably be better without them (even

by nothis 11y ago

I like the idea that ad-driven business are not sustainable. Ads are manipulative almost by definition and the world would probably be better without them (even though it's hard to make an argument for disallowing people to present their products in the best way possible). The problem with monetization I see is that internet usage is so far-spread. The amount of articles I read per week/month might be fairly constant but it's spread among dozens of sites. I don't want to pay for every single read (as that would make me think twice about reading stuff) so the only option is a subscription but then I'd pay $5 or $10 a month for a single site that, last month, I might have only read 3 articles on. IMO the only solution would be cross-site subscriptions, i.e. you pay for "online reading abo" and get access to like 50 sites. I'd also wish that they then get payed based on how much I read on each site. I'd actually pay for a service like that.

pmlnr 11y ago
This is what https://flattr.com https://flattr.com was supposed to sort out, isn't it?
- SturgeonsLaw 11y ago
  Yep, but nobody has managed to lower the friction with microtransactions enough to get the masses on board. If someone gets that right it could be a new paradigm for web publishing, but that's a big if.
- anexprogrammer 11y ago
  Yep, but it's not exactly widely adopted. I think they have to have an arrangement with each site first don't they? I can onl remember seeing it on small blogs, not a publisher. Google's contributor might have had a better chance, but like a lot of G services it's completely unpromoted, and hard to find by search unless you know the name already.
- bowlich 11y ago
  It would be interesting to see something like this built into the browser and then automated. Perhaps sites could send a header detailing where to send the micro-transaction. You could load up your browser with $X/month and then have the browser divide the money evenly between all the sites who it crossed passing that header. Now you don't have to think about it, and if it's built into say wordpress the content creator only needs to remember to punch their number into the system. I pay The Old Reader a $3.00 subscription for RSS each month. I find it a good fit. I would love to see an inverted RSS where I send a micro-transaction to everyone on my feed whose published in the month. Again, like RSS, it would be nice to just have the system be automated. No having to remember to look someone up on Patreon or Flattr and then manage how much I'm giving them.
iSnow 11y ago
Medium is banking on the other alternative: most sites die off and a natural monopoly emerges because no one wants to pay for access to more than say three sites. They want to be the facebook of long form comment.
- ekianjo 11y ago
  OK but they have nothing going for them. The next time I see a paywall, I'll just avoid it and look for content elsewhere.
- TheOtherHobbes 11y ago
  I can't see that working, because Medium isn't competing with giant content sites - it's competing with small individual blogs. And those aren't going to die out. Medium's problem is that most of the content isn't truly valuable. It's beautifully presented and often interesting, but there's very little that would make me want to pay money for it. I might pay money to a small selection of the best authors, and it wouldn't be so bad if the sites they publish on take a cut. The only site I'd seriously consider paying regular money to is Quora, because the content is entertaining and often valuable to me. The other big sites don't make the cut. Maybe TechCrunch, at a push? Certainly not Wired, which has always been mostly noise. The problem is that most tech blogs offer distraction, not value, and Generation Buzzfeed won't pay for distraction. Paywalls are unlikely to work until the industry understands the distinction.
vermontdevil 11y ago
Like the current cable package except it's more a la carte type

by nothis 11y ago

pmlnr 11y ago

This is what https://flattr.com https://flattr.com was supposed to sort out, isn't it?

SturgeonsLaw 11y ago
Yep, but nobody has managed to lower the friction with microtransactions enough to get the masses on board. If someone gets that right it could be a new paradigm for web publishing, but that's a big if.
anexprogrammer 11y ago
Yep, but it's not exactly widely adopted. I think they have to have an arrangement with each site first don't they? I can onl remember seeing it on small blogs, not a publisher. Google's contributor might have had a better chance, but like a lot of G services it's completely unpromoted, and hard to find by search unless you know the name already.
bowlich 11y ago
It would be interesting to see something like this built into the browser and then automated. Perhaps sites could send a header detailing where to send the micro-transaction. You could load up your browser with $X/month and then have the browser divide the money evenly between all the sites who it crossed passing that header. Now you don't have to think about it, and if it's built into say wordpress the content creator only needs to remember to punch their number into the system. I pay The Old Reader a $3.00 subscription for RSS each month. I find it a good fit. I would love to see an inverted RSS where I send a micro-transaction to everyone on my feed whose published in the month. Again, like RSS, it would be nice to just have the system be automated. No having to remember to look someone up on Patreon or Flattr and then manage how much I'm giving them.

iSnow 11y ago

Medium is banking on the other alternative: most sites die off and a natural monopoly emerges because no one wants to pay for access to more than say three sites. They want to be the facebook of long form comment.

ekianjo 11y ago
OK but they have nothing going for them. The next time I see a paywall, I'll just avoid it and look for content elsewhere.
TheOtherHobbes 11y ago
I can't see that working, because Medium isn't competing with giant content sites - it's competing with small individual blogs. And those aren't going to die out. Medium's problem is that most of the content isn't truly valuable. It's beautifully presented and often interesting, but there's very little that would make me want to pay money for it. I might pay money to a small selection of the best authors, and it wouldn't be so bad if the sites they publish on take a cut. The only site I'd seriously consider paying regular money to is Quora, because the content is entertaining and often valuable to me. The other big sites don't make the cut. Maybe TechCrunch, at a push? Certainly not Wired, which has always been mostly noise. The problem is that most tech blogs offer distraction, not value, and Generation Buzzfeed won't pay for distraction. Paywalls are unlikely to work until the industry understands the distinction.

vermontdevil 11y ago

Like the current cable package except it's more a la carte type