File under “Things We Already Knew”. Around 60 percent of people would rather suffer watching online ads than pay for content, a KPMG survey says. Just 16 percent of consumers would pay. In mobile, 40 percent would watch ads to get free music, and 28 percent for free IM. KPMG’s media partner Tudor Aw, in FT.com, called it “good news for advertisers and perhaps a pointer in the ongoing debate over whether advertising or subscription is the right revenue model”.
But what is a “consumer”? The debate sizzles on whether publishers will introduce pay walls. But what’s become clear is that, whilst affluent readers and viewers will continue paying for dependable, highly targeted, must-read business information, mainstream users, who make the bulk of the audience, still want a free ride. The takeaway for publishers? If they want to charge, they must bring to the table a kind of content that readers can’t find elsewhere.