Giving Away $30 Million in Ad Dollars
- Posted by Jim Tobin on September 25th, 2007
filed in Advertising |
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Rupert Murdoch is a smart man. He bought MySpace in 2005 when it made $23 million from ad sales. In 2007, it will make $525 million in ad sales. So he knows a thing or two about Internet advertising and the value of it.
So I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised to learn that he’s considering unlocking the Wall Street Journal online vaults. Currently, you need to subscribe to get “the good stuff,” although there are also some free articles.
The Journal makes a good living locking up “the good stuff.” The estimated loss from switching to an open system is estimated at $30 million. But since the Wall Street Journal has exceptional content, a great brand name, and a strong web presence already, Murdoch is pretty sure he can more than make up for that loss with Internet ad sales.
We’re in a new world, folks. The business of advertising is changing. What good content means, how it’s valued and who will pay for it is changing.
Depending on your business model, this could have profound effects on how you deal with your customers and prospects. Do you have great content hidden away on the one hand? Or should you be paying for highly targeted Internet ads on the other hand? One thing is for sure, hang on to the status quo and you’ll lose status…