The products he has in mind are his most popular columnists and features, for which he hopes to sell subscriptions in revenue-sharing agreements with rival sites. With the prospect of declining advertising rates, the US group now faces an uncertain future. The US research group found that 26 per cent of the 5,644 consumers it had surveyed said they had paid for content - but more than half of these said they would not do so again. It took decades to change the attitude that TV should be free and that's where we are with the internet today. But that on its own does not explain the difficulties of online content.
Some magazines are also mediocre, just as some websites have excellent content.
Yet Forrester's report also gives reasons for optimism. It found that 23 per cent of online ventures whose business model depended on content were profitable - a remarkably high number given the carnage in the sector of late. Rebecca Ulph, a Forrester analyst, says the reason for this upbeat view is a change in strategy by many in the content market. The survey showed expectations for advertising revenues falling from 67 per cent to 59 per cent of total earnings over the next two years. Companies are looking for revenue from subscriptions, syndication and e-commerce services.