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0 pointsBjoernKW6y ago0 comments

Other than a completely new approach for producing value such as the 'Freeism' one described in the article suggested in this comment https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20282851 (which I hadn't time to read yet and hence I'm neither in favour of or against) this simply boils down to the questions of who will pay for relevant content and what the business model will be.

By and large, people don't seem to be willing to pay for content on the web. Hence, advertising became the dominant business model for content on the web.

Find another way for someone to pay for relevant content and you can do away with advertising. It's as simple as that.

0 comments

TeMPOraL6y ago

> By and large, people don't seem to be willing to pay for content on the web. Hence, advertising became the dominant business model for content on the web.

I don't think the causality is right here. People might not be willing to pay for content on the web because advertising enables competitors to offer content for free. If you removed that option, if people had no choice but to pay, it might just turn out that people would pay.

BjoernKWOP6y ago

How would you achieve that? By outrightly outlawing advertising?

There absolutely are paid options on the web. It's just that they don't seem to appeal to a sufficient number of buyers so advertising could become irrelevant.

TeMPOraL6y ago

> How would you achieve that? By outrightly outlawing advertising?

Yes.

> There absolutely are paid options on the web. It's just that they don't seem to appeal to a sufficient number of buyers so advertising could become irrelevant.

They aren't appealing in the presence of ad-subsidized free alternatives. Remove the latter, and they just might become appealing again.

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Fjolsvith6y ago

Huh. That sounds like a free market model.

Isn't this what different newspapers like NYT and WSJ are moving towards? Why can't both models coexist?

TeMPOraL6y ago

Because one totally destroys the other.

Slave labour, selling poison or dumping waste into rivers are all superior business models too, but that doesn't mean they should exist in a civilized society.

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Fjolsvith6y ago

> Find another way for someone to pay for relevant content and you can do away with advertising. It's as simple as that.

Not so simple. What is relevant for me may be irrelevant for you.

BjoernKWOP6y ago

You pay for content that's relevant to you. I pay for what's relevant to me.

Fjolsvith6y ago

Oh, okay. I was assuming we had someone like the government pay for content.

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0 pointsBjoernKW6y ago0 comments

By and large, people don't seem to be willing to pay for content on the web. Hence, advertising became the dominant business model for content on the web.

Find another way for someone to pay for relevant content and you can do away with advertising. It's as simple as that.

0 comments

TeMPOraL6y ago

> By and large, people don't seem to be willing to pay for content on the web. Hence, advertising became the dominant business model for content on the web.

BjoernKWOP6y ago

How would you achieve that? By outrightly outlawing advertising?

There absolutely are paid options on the web. It's just that they don't seem to appeal to a sufficient number of buyers so advertising could become irrelevant.

TeMPOraL6y ago

> How would you achieve that? By outrightly outlawing advertising?

Yes.

> There absolutely are paid options on the web. It's just that they don't seem to appeal to a sufficient number of buyers so advertising could become irrelevant.

They aren't appealing in the presence of ad-subsidized free alternatives. Remove the latter, and they just might become appealing again.

1 more reply

Fjolsvith6y ago

Huh. That sounds like a free market model.

Isn't this what different newspapers like NYT and WSJ are moving towards? Why can't both models coexist?

TeMPOraL6y ago

Because one totally destroys the other.

Slave labour, selling poison or dumping waste into rivers are all superior business models too, but that doesn't mean they should exist in a civilized society.

1 more reply

Fjolsvith6y ago

> Find another way for someone to pay for relevant content and you can do away with advertising. It's as simple as that.

Not so simple. What is relevant for me may be irrelevant for you.

BjoernKWOP6y ago

You pay for content that's relevant to you. I pay for what's relevant to me.

Fjolsvith6y ago

Oh, okay. I was assuming we had someone like the government pay for content.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse