Paywall Could “Revitalise” Online Advertising

by Stephen Logan on 13th January 2010

A planned paywall for content offered by certain news providers could be beneficial to the online marketing sector, according to one industry commentator.

Chris Lake, editor-in-chief of Econsultancy, made his remarks following the news that the Financial Times is aiming to see content revenue overtake advertising this year through its corporate clients, online subscribers and a cover price increase.

He pointed out that forcing readers to pay for content on the internet will no doubt be horrifying for a company’s advertising sales director, since the number of unique users and quantity of page impressions is very likely to drop.

However, Mr Lake claimed that many publishers have too much advertising inventory and they will often have to sell off the surplus to networks and agencies.

"Although paywalls will no doubt reduce page impressions and unique users, they might also help to revitalise the online ad sector, by reducing the amount of remnant inventory," he explained.