How to monetize content especially on the web has been the bane of the digital media industry since its inception. Content may be king when it comes to attracting traffic but it certainly isn’t king yet in India when it comes to raking in the moolah on the online space. There has always been a ensuing debate on whether or not one should charge for content. Ive has several discussions with Industry folks on the same and Ajit Balakrishnan of Rediff.com has always been of the opinion that user will pay for content in future and that is the way forward for its monetization.
It seems that Nielsen in its recent report seems to agree with that thought. According to the survey:
- 70% Indians are willing to pay for online content if they get the right to copy it and share it
- 63% will pay if the payment system is easy
- 61% Indians are willing to pay for the same content online if the costs are same as offlin
The most interesting piece of statistic though is: 69% would rather pay for individual pieces of content, instead of subscribing to the entire website.
For the above to come into actual reality micropayments and ease of payments would need to come into the Indian system. I think the recent ban on Paypal is proof that we need better payment systems for online micropayments which are home grown and are trusted by the Indian payments watchdog RBI.
This is really nice info
Dear Rajiv,
I firmly agree with blog you have written. I see people scared in payment through cards. Though pay pal is so called a secure system in online payments. But we have a high hope with Mr. Nandan Nilkani and his UIN (unique Identity number). I think a good solution can be made out if we compile UID with all bank accounts numbers. This can make money transfer bit more transparent and less prone to fraud.