As newspapers bolt meters onto their sites and juicy narratives end up locked inside apps, will the village common become segregated into info have-and-have-nots. Will certain kinds of content become a luxury good?
The theology of free has is persistent, but embattled. As the advertising subsidy has disappeared, content providers are looking to consumers to fill the gap. Yes, information wanted to be free – still does -- but it’s getting more expensive all the time. The result could be a Web filled with choke points and toll booths.
David Carr will discuss the evolving pay-walled world: effective strategies for seducing revenues from consumers, new ad approaches based on opted-in readers, and alternative revenue models that successfully avoid putting a gate around great content.