business models | Internet Marketing Blog

You won't pay for Twitter. So why should advertisers?

It's no secret that social media and a subscription business model doesn't exactly go hand and hand. There's a reason that the world's most popular social media websites are free to use.

But just how difficult would it be for a company like Twitter to charge its users? According to the 2010 USC Annenberg Digital Future Study (PDF), zero percent of users polled indicated that they'd be willing to pay for Twitter. That makes finding a way for newspapers to charge for their websites look like a walk in the park.

by Patricio Robles 27 July 2010 10:20am 4 comments

Reddit to users: please help us!

Making money online isn't always easy, especially when you run an ad-supported business. And that's not just true for the small fries; it can be even more true for popular, heavily-trafficked sites.

That's the case for Reddit, the popular user-generated news site. It was purchased by Conde Nast Digital in 2006, but a blog post last Friday indicates that all is not well at Reddit.

by Patricio Robles 12 July 2010 09:38am 5 comments

For news organizations, business development means turning away business

When the New York Times tried to have Apple pull the plug on the hit iPad news reader, Pulse, I noted that as newspapers like the New York Times attempt to 'save' their businesses, it would be wise of them to figure out how they can work with creative third parties. After all, individuals outside of these organizations may be able to do more for them in some areas than they can currently do for themselves.

But if emails between an online publisher who wanted to license content from Dow Jones is any indication, news organizations may be better at talking about getting paid for their content than they are at actually accepting money from businesses that are ready to pay them.

by Patricio Robles 11 June 2010 12:05pm 2 comments

Twitter: your links will soon belong to us

As Twitter makes the transition from profitless startup to revenue-generating business, the massive number of links that are shared on its service on a daily basis represent valuable currency. Given this, Twitter naturally wants to exert more control of those links.

This summer, it will do just that when it finally rolls out its own link shortening service that wraps all links shared through Twitter.com and third party clients using the company's t.co shortener.

by Patricio Robles 09 June 2010 09:00am 9 comments

How to save journalism? The FTC thinks there's a tax for that

Journalism, apparently, is in trouble. The once-dominant financiers of journalism -- newspapers -- are dying. And while some see hope in new media, the harsh reality is that journalism's woes have less to do with distribution mediums and more to do with business models.

That's because the kind of journalism that is threatened is expensive, and even online, there aren't too many business models that can support it. So what should we do?

by Patricio Robles 08 June 2010 15:36pm 0 comments

Is 'free' finally falling out of favor?

Back in 2008, online social networking startup Ning couldn't give away free, hosted social networks fast enough.

The company, which was co-founded by Marc Andreessen of Netscape fame, reportedly estimated that by New Year's Eve 2010, it would host approximately 4m social networks. Social networks which would produce billions of daily page views for the startup. Ning's projected trajectory excited investors so much that they invested more than $100m in the company.

by Patricio Robles 16 April 2010 12:19pm 5 comments

PayPal plans better micropayment solution

Much has been made about the market for micropayments over the years, but for the most part, billing for small transactions remains a challenge for online merchants, especially small and mid-size publishers who sell content and virtual goods.

PayPal, however, hopes to provide some relief later this year with a new offering that makes it easier for online merchants to process micropayments cost-effectively.

by Patricio Robles 16 March 2010 09:11am 0 comments

Six things you can learn from Sex.com's failure

In 2006, the domain name Sex.com was purchased by a group of investors for a reported $14m.

The buyers of Sex.com, Escom LLC, had big plans for their $14m domain name. According to a press release announcing the sale, "The new Sex.com will transform into the market-leading adult entertainment destination by offering compelling, next-generation web interaction experiences to revolutionize the industry. The new Sex.com will leverage the millions of monthly unique visitors that are already coming to the site while it continues to roll-out a host of professionally produced products and services..."

by Patricio Robles 10 March 2010 11:41am 6 comments

Is ad blocking really devastating to the sites you love?

Ken Fisher, the founder and editor-in-chief of popular online tech publisher Ars Technica has a message to readers who use ad blockers: you're killing us.

In an effort to defeat ad blockers, last Friday Ars experimented with a technique designed to prevent Ars readers with ad blockers from viewing Ars content. According to Fisher, the experiment was a success "technologically" but not surprisingly, a "mixed bag" socially.

by Patricio Robles 08 March 2010 09:13am 8 comments

Twitter Trends go local

Twitter's Trending Topics list may or may not be useful to you. While they can often be helpful in spotting breaking news events and the hot topics of the day, they're also notoriously associated with spam.