Many may follow the New York Times in charging for archived articles, while entertainment trade publication Variety recently began charging for access to its Web site. Well, television was once free, too, based entirely on advertising. Many see the Internet following suit. It just took a while for this market to figure it out. At the moment it isn't easy for online services to collect that lunch money.
Online retailers are in a double bind.
And the news for consumers isn't all bad, says Enderle. Some revenue-starved Web sites started selling consumers' personal information after they went out of business. Moreover, if consumers pay, Web sites may be tailored more for their needs and less for advertisers, says Jakob Nielsen of Nielsen Norman Group, a California expert on Web usability. Today, content on many sites is displayed to maximize the number of ads seen, and ads are getting bigger and splashier. Fees might change that.