Autonomy abandoned the Daily Briefing and concentrated on their server-based knowledge management products. NewsEdge continued to sign up large corporates to its flexibly priced news delivery products. Ah, the reliance of business on consumer ignorance. So now the free news connoisseur had more choice, bearing in mind that delicate differences in the bouquet of each service stemmed from the slightly different news sources used in the mix. Different names, but the same business model of free news being used to buy advertising eyes, loyal registered unique users and maybe even selling premium content to people who were hooked on free content.
Affiliate marketing is the latest business model.
It means that even those on tight budgets now have access to more news than they can digest. The competitive edge will come from services that offer analysis and insight. The main problem with the web is that the basic facts are there but no questions are answered.