Is Free Content a Smarter Business Model Than Paid Content?

Posted on June 15, 2005

AdAge.com has an article discussing whether the paid content business model that is used by leading media companies like the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times is better or worse than the free content model that Forbes.com is using. AdAge.com cites a ComScore Networks' traffic report that shows that Forbes.com is clearly taking the lead in unique visitors.

ComScore Networks' global visitor numbers tell the story. In 2002, WSJ.com was averaging around 1 million unique visitors a month, FT.com 1.3 million, Fortune.com 1.7 million and Forbes.com, 1.7 million. Three years on and WSJ.com is averaging around 3.3 million unique visitors; FT.com, which gated much of its content in mid-2002, is around 1.8 million; Fortune.com, which allows viewers to see a little free content before shuttling them to a subs sign-up form, averages 1.3 million. And Forbes.com? It�s at about 7.8 million.

Some argue that Dow Jones recent acquisition of Marketwatch.com means the free content model may be the right choice. AOL has also announced plans to open up more of its content to the public free of charge. However, there is only so much ad revenue to go around so it remains to be seen what business model will ultimately prevail.