Op-Ed: "Pay or Data" Has Its Reasons - Even if You Disagree
Currently, the web is monetized mostly by either ads or subscriptions (or by companies offering you free stuff and then selling your data). Over the years, there have been various attempts to switch to a system of micropayments. But despite a few limited successes (e.g. buying one song from a music service), these attempts have generally failed. An... See more
Noah Smith • Web3 had better not be Transaction Cost Hell
In general, consumers don’t like paying for stuff, hence the multi-trillion-dollar success of having people “pay” with attention (advertisement) and data (privacy).
longform.asmartbear.com • A Smart Bear » Excuse me, is there a problem?
there’s no such thing as a free lunch, and instead of paying for Google and Facebook products with money, you’re paying with personal data.[286] This debate is summed up in the Silicon Valley proverb: “if you aren’t paying for the product, you are the product.”[287]
Aditya Agashe • Swipe to Unlock: The Primer on Technology and Business Strategy (Fast Forward Your Product Career: The Two Books Required to Land Any PM Job)
People like to talk about how media needs new business models. The business models are perfectly fine. People will either pay for the content themselves or their attention will be monetized with advertising. Those are fundamentally good business models.
Jacob Cohen Donnelly • Local News Works When Cost Structure Isn't Screwed Up
At the core of this is a debate on whether The New York Times, The Washington Post and others are failing the American people by pushing more content behind the paywall.
Jarrod Dicker • Don’t Blame Media’s Business Model
A paywall turns away evaluators who aren’t serious — but it also turns away people who are on the fence.