Want to have competitive edge on the web? Spice it up

As media advertising revenue dries up, many newspapers around the world are increasingly changing tack to stay afloat while others are wading through tough times making tough choices, and worse still, others have had to close shop.

One of the strategies that some publishers and content providers have resorted to is charging for access to their website content, aimed at bridging the waning revenue.

Last month, The New York Times announced that it would charge some frequent readers for access to its web site content.

Earlier, Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch announced that he would introduce web charges for all his newspapers, saying that his publishing firm News Corp “wanted to prevent readers moving to free sites by making its content better and differentiated from other publishers.”

Well, Murdoch sentiments were echoed by a cross section of UAE Netizens, who, through a survey, called for improved online content, before providers could realistically charge for it.

The recently released global survey by Nielsen Company showed that consumers in the UAE are reluctant to pay for content, unless its quality improves.

The study covered 27,000 consumers across 54 countries and found that 88 per cent of UAE respondents want content to stay free, while 66 per cent said that the quality of online information needs to improve significantly before they could subscribe.

A spot check by Alrroya.com reveals a similar scenario. At a busy cyber café in the Al Satwa area of Dubai, Lumio Gonzalves from Manila, Philippines, was deeply engrossed in surfing his favourite website when asked whether he would consider paying for online content.

“For news… no way, but games and books I wouldn’t mind parting with some little quid,” he said. When prodded further, Gonzalves reveals that one can get news from almost all websites, unlike music or film which are highly regulated due to stricter piracy laws.

How to attract and maintain online readers

The Nielsen survey found that a fifth of UAE internet users had already paid for books online, 14 per cent had bought music and 13 per cent had purchased movies via the web.

At another corner in the same cafe, Abe Kalishien, who is originally from Lebanon, was heartily chatting with his daughter in Beirut via Skype. He later said that it was his daughter’s birthday but “although they were miles away from each other, they felt close, thanks to free technology.”

Kalishien falls in the category of net users who believe that web content should be free of any charge.

“It’s absurd for any web content provider to even think they would get any dime for charging for news,” he says, adding, “This is a sure way of losing readers or web traffic very fast, since there are other numerous alternatives out there in the cyber world.”

Dubai-based business intelligence source MEED, which offers the latest news, tenders and contracts within the Middle East market has maintained a solid grasp in online readership market, despite charging for some of its content.

David A. Riel, MEED’S Subscription Support Executive says readers who subscribe to MEED Magazine are provided free access to all its magazines online content through MEED.com.

“For a whole year subscription of the print edition (55 magazines) which costs $ 1,200, the customer gets full unrestricted access to our online content at meed.com,” Riel tells Alrroya.com.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt net users

Meed’s strategy is in line with some recommendations called for by majority of respondents polled in the Nielsen study, where more than four in five UAE residents said that a subscription to a newspaper, magazine, radio or TV channel should allow them free access to content on corresponding online services.

In the survey, 80 per cent said they would rather search the web for free content than pay for what they need online.

Respondents elsewhere in the Middle East shared a similar view to internet users in the UAE; 85 per cent of web users in Saudi Arabia say content should stay free, and 51 per cent believe that the quality of content needs to be significantly enhanced before it can be paid for.

In Egypt, 87 per cent of those interviewed want online material to remain freely available, and 54 per cent expect an improvement in its quality before parting with their money.

Sevil Ermin, Managing Director of Nielsen, UAE, said: “Nielsen’s latest global internet study provides valuable insights into how people’s relationship with the web is evolving, and the results will certainly influence the thinking of Middle East-based content providers.”