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Lance Ulanoff at PC Magazine predicts that the “good old days” of free content and services is soon to come to an end. He cites many reasons for this theory. Among them are:
1. A glut of free content from largely undifferentiated sources
2. Premier providers struggling to maintain a steady flow of new content without the benefit of revenue
3. A beyond-hard economy beating back every idea, initiative, and dollar that might help float said content on the free Web
4. An uncooperative public that remains unwilling to pay for virtually anything online
A recent article from CNN reported that Rupert Murdoch’s large conglomerate News Corporation was suffering losses and would start charging for some services on sites such as the Wall Street Journal. In addition the Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing in which they discussed the crisis facing print media.
The collapsed economy, Ulanoff says, has spelled out the doom of the “free web” where news, video, and hosting services are offered up for free. Web site services that offer hosting and storage for photos, videos, and pretty much anything else depend upon ad revenues that have been on a steady decline. Blogs, video, and news stories will be the minority, and the Internet will become more of a traditional marketplace, Ulanoff fears.
Source: PC Magazine
Photo: Flickr
