Similar benefits can be expected from block-searching since institutions can gauge their expenditures up to a point and only later extend their investments into information access as required. Obviously, institutions with the greatest demand for networked resources can benefit greatly from negotiating discounts with suppliers for large-volume use. The emergence of consortia has made it possible for even greater institutional negotiating strength and buying power with providers and has enabled many to secure discounts or to subscribe to large numbers of databases free of burdensome transaction fees. In subscription-based models, one danger is that without monitoring use, institutions may subscribe to information that is accessed infrequently. This is also true for time-based systems.
Individuals often have more control over their personal budgets than institutions under such plans.
Panelists identified certain risks to information purveyors in providing transaction-based models, rather than bulk or subscription approaches. The risk is that few users will be willing to access their database and without a significant volume of access, the economic viability of the database may be in jeopardy. Database providers may also encounter further obstacles, especially with billing systems for end-users. Such systems usually require complex interactions with telephone, cable, banking and other-third parties with which publishers traditionally have little experience. The amount of accounting and infrastructure needed to manage individual transactions is far more complex than is common with traditional methods of publishing information.