Publishers Still Confusing Content And Services

from the this-is-not-that-difficult dept

Why is it so difficult to understand the difference between content and services? The Online Publishers Association comes out with a study every few months about the "online content" market, and they always get it wrong. We've pointed this out before, but it appears the OPA folks aren't listening or don't care. They highlight the latest study by saying that paid online content has grown 19% - but, once again, the biggest portion of that "content" is dating sites. No one pays for content on a dating site. The content is always free. People pay to connect - which is the service those dating sites offer. Instead of recognizing this, the OPA is encouraging more sites to start doomed plans to charge for "content." Charging for content is increasingly difficult. Charging for services is increasingly easy. Misunderstanding the two is going to lead to many bad business model decisions.

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