Monday, 18, Apr 2011 10:07
Companies that engage in news sharing could have an advantage over commercial journalistic resources online, as their articles may not be their primary source of income.
In the case of news outlets with both print and online impressions, the hardcopy form has in recent years paid for the digital version's free distribution.
Now, however, research from the University of British Columbia suggests this is changing - with the New York Times the latest publication to put up a 'pay wall' blocking free access to its website content.
For companies with a primary income stream to fund their news sharing activities, this could be good news in terms of drumming up site traffic.
The university's research reveals that "81 per cent [of Canadians] said they would not pay to read news online and 90 per cent indicated they would find free alternatives if their preferred news websites started charging for content".
As well as being unwilling to pay for access to articles, it seems many web users object if, after taking any action at all, the page they land on is not of a high standard.
In a post on the Sysomos Blog, Mark Evans noted that the social media and business intelligence firm has found good-value content is key to keeping consumers engaged once they have clicked on Facebook's 'Like' button to gain access to an article or offer.
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