Seventy percent of Association of Online Publishers members say they plan to either retain or launch paid-content services over the next year – up from just 46 percent in 2007 – according to the body’s latest census.
Twenty-six percent of respondents said they would charge for both special reports and downloadable apps, 16 percent said they would charge for archives and specific mobile content. A third of respondents plan to use a micropayment method. The survey took responses from 40 members.
At the association’s annual summit next week, the hot topic on the lips of the 450 publishing-exec delegates will be charging for content. As online advertising growth has slowed to a crawl, many are now looking to prices, rather than CPMs, for income.
— Opportunities in the year ahead: mobile websites (for 85 percent of respondents), UGC (75 percent), broadband (75 percent), community or social networking (73 percent) and behavioural targeting (73 percent).
— And what’s a threat?: The economy (according to 70 percent of respondents), competitors (53 percent), BBC (50 percent), Google (NSDQ: GOOG) (38 percent) and government/legal rules (35 percent).
— Social media: Though 95 percent said they want to embrace the social stuff, just 57 percent publish through Twitter and 48 percent through Facebook. Is that leaving traffic on the table?