I think it's clear the big river called Free is not going to tolerate a dam all of a sudden, but companies are going to have to develop all sorts of small tributaries that will eventually be as powerful. These new fees are replacing the disappearing discount. Meanwhile, Amazon has raised the amount of spending that customers must reach before offering free shipping. Most Web retail outfits are making similar moves, cutting back on generous promotions they made without a thought last year. Freebies these days are often linked only with major purchases, such as a recent offer for a year of free access using MSN with the purchase of a Dell personal computer.
Executives blame weakening ad rates and high costs.
The company said recently that it would try to restrict heavier usage by its free-service users by making it hard for them to stay continually connected and by shooting them more ads. Those who pay for Juno, of course, would be spared such agonies. At the end of the day, free is a concept that made sense, but not in the real order of things today - and not soon enough and not big enough. The most apparent sign of change, however, is the recent deal that Napster, the poster child for free online music, struck recently with Bertelsmann. It's not that everyone on the Web is so used to freebies.