HEARD ON THE BEAT : Subscribing to Idea of Charge for Net Edition
Blazing a trail that many online publishers may eventually travel, Dow Jones & Co. plans to begin charging subscription fees for a new, beefed-up version of its Internet-based news service.
The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition, at https://www.wsj.com on the Internet’s World Wide Web, will cost $49 a year beginning Aug. 1. Subscribers to the Wall Street Journal’s printed edition will pay $29.
Until now, most newspapers and magazines with World Wide Web editions--as well the many small, start-up publications that are available only on the Internet--have offered their editorial content free of charge, with the hope of making money through advertising sales.
But in a rapidly changing electronic publishing environment, the idea of charging for use, once a taboo on the Internet, is starting to gain currency--especially since the efficacy of Internet advertising remains a big question mark in many companies’ eyes.
“People have seen a lot of things on the Web that don’t deliver value,” said Tom Baker, business director of the Journal’s Interactive Edition. “The time is right for us” to start charging.
The Journal isn’t alone. Microsoft Corp.’s new online magazine, Slate, headed by Michael Kinsley, formerly of Cable News Network’s “Crossfire” program, is expected to charge when it shows up on the Web this summer. Time Warner recently revamped its popular Pathfinder site, which offers access to the company’s wide portfolio of magazines, and is expected to start charging for access to the service later this year.
Baker said the Journal decided to begin charging in conjunction with the launch of a new, upgraded service. The Journal’s previous online service, Money & Investment Update, was investment-oriented and only included a limited selection of stories from the printed version. The new Interactive Edition includes most articles not only from the Journal’s U.S. edition, but also from its European and Asian editions.
The Journal expects just a small minority of the 350,000 people who have registered to use the current online edition to become paid subscribers. But the service already has a number of high profile advertisers, including Fidelity Investments, General Motors, Toyota and Wells Fargo.
Meanwhile, another big advertiser, Procter & Gamble, is creating stir in the online media by reportedly seeking a major change in the way it pays for Web advertising. Until now, most Web sites have sold ads based on the number of people who see them, just the way newspaper and TV ads are sold.
But P&G; is reportedly limiting payment for some World Wide Web ads to the number of people actually lured to seek more information. The Web directory service Yahoo! Corp. has agreed to accept ads from P&G; on a “click-through” rather than “eyeball” basis, according to Advertising Age magazine, which means the company pays only for users who actually click on the ad to “surf” to Procter & Gamble’s own Web sites, not for those who simply view a page with a P&G; ad.
The move could well turn many Web publishers’ business models upside-down, since the click rate is thought to be as low as 2% on some sites. Complaints have already surfaced on several Internet mailing lists that deal with online advertising issues.
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There will be lots of talk about new online business models--not to mention new products--at the Internet World conference this week in San Jose.
Netscape will unveil the next version of its popular Internet browsing software, scheduled for release in June. Navigator 3.0 includes 3-D, video, audio and security software and technology that helps company employees work together on documents, and the trial version can be downloaded from Netscape’s Web site.
IBM will release InfoMarket, a service designed for corporations and researchers that plumbs information from companies like DataTimes Corp. and delivers it via the Web. The service includes scrambling technology designed to protect the material from digital piracy as it is sent across the Internet.
And privately held VeriSign Inc. plans to begin distributing technology used to verify the identity of computer users when they send material such as electronic mail or credit-card numbers over the Internet.
Progressive Networks, founded by Microsoft Corp. veteran Rob Glaser and best known for its RealAudio system for sound on the Internet, will debut Timecast, a site on the Web that allows computer users to draw content from all over the Internet to create a kind of customized radio news service. (https://www.timecast.com).
Another novel Internet news venture, the PointCast Network, will launch commercially this week. Pointcast takes information from a variety of sources--including The Times and the Boston Globe--assembles a package of customized news and other information, and displays it on a computer via a screen-saver program. (https://www.pointcast.com).
The conference, conducted by Mecklermedia Corp., will have exhibits from more than 300 companies and speeches from the heads of Sun Microsystems Inc. and Oracle Corp. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, weary of the conference circuit, will deliver his address via satellite.
From Times staff writers Leslie Helm, Julie Pitta, Amy Harmon, Greg Miller and wire reports.
