3 ms·

I think something like the concept of reddit gold can work on the content/news sites as well. At its core, its about the ones who liked/found the content useful

I think something like the concept of reddit gold can work on the content/news sites as well. At its core, its about the ones who liked/found the content useful can reward it with some payment. Usually, in most of the business models, your most heavy users tend to subsidize/bear the cost of not so heavy but casual users. At the very core that is. For adverts it fails, since the heavy users are of less value than the casual ones. (how many times you can show the same ad to a user? Also, they are well trained on how to look past the ads). With gold-like concept, great content is rewarded, and incentivized as well. Also, given the scale of reddit, it works really well (along with ads) but not too sure how well it will work with ad dependent publications.

TeMPOraL 8y ago
Micropayments aren't a problem on the user end, they're a problem almost entirely on the distribution end. We have existing successful models of the user side, chief of which is taxes. The problem is that an ideal solution would feature one or a couple of players that would cover the distribution to all creators on the entire Internet. I.e. as a user, I want to set this system up once, and forget about it. But as long as people will keep competing to be a main payment gateway, each starting with their own slice of the Internet, users won't come.
- ankit219 8y ago
  Micropayment does not work on user end because the number of times it prompts the users. Example[1]. For me, it hinders the experience of reading. This would be even more problematic on the sites I have been on for the first time. The problem with one player covering costs for all publishers is the monopoly it brings. Also, sounds more like cable, where there is a cost to access 100s of sites on the internet. Moreover, the users are not convinced to pay for one site they use, do you think they will be convinced to pay/donate for 100s of sites they have not even heard of? If it is forced as a package, then it is exactly like cable. I am not saying it cant work, but would require a lot of work to convince the users to pay. Also you are covering for not just the server costs, but publication's staff costs, business costs, which vary over time. With just one time lifetime payment, they are in a bound themselves. [1] https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/nov/21/is-indias-biggest-ever-urban-redevelopment-too-good-to-be-true-bhendi-bazaar https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/nov/21/is-indias-big...

TeMPOraL 8y ago

Micropayments aren't a problem on the user end, they're a problem almost entirely on the distribution end. We have existing successful models of the user side, chief of which is taxes. The problem is that an ideal solution would feature one or a couple of players that would cover the distribution to all creators on the entire Internet. I.e. as a user, I want to set this system up once, and forget about it. But as long as people will keep competing to be a main payment gateway, each starting with their own slice of the Internet, users won't come.

ankit219 8y ago
Micropayment does not work on user end because the number of times it prompts the users. Example[1]. For me, it hinders the experience of reading. This would be even more problematic on the sites I have been on for the first time. The problem with one player covering costs for all publishers is the monopoly it brings. Also, sounds more like cable, where there is a cost to access 100s of sites on the internet. Moreover, the users are not convinced to pay for one site they use, do you think they will be convinced to pay/donate for 100s of sites they have not even heard of? If it is forced as a package, then it is exactly like cable. I am not saying it cant work, but would require a lot of work to convince the users to pay. Also you are covering for not just the server costs, but publication's staff costs, business costs, which vary over time. With just one time lifetime payment, they are in a bound themselves. [1] https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/nov/21/is-indias-biggest-ever-urban-redevelopment-too-good-to-be-true-bhendi-bazaar https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/nov/21/is-indias-big...