Michael Arrington in his boycott of Associated Press seemed to suggest that paid content is a dying business model.
I must admit I am not a huge fan of linking to articles from Associated Press, simply because it is extremely difficult to determine the original source when these stories “go over the wire”.
A great example of the reasons why is when I reported about the appropriated story last year from the Museum of Hoaxes – that was Associated Free Press to blame, a different organization.
Readers might also remember my run-in with The Guardian where I was a major source for an article, but didn’t receive a link. The author and editor of The Guardian explained their viewpoint in the comments, but it still wrankles a little.
That being said, there is a huge amount of PROFIT being made online in the form of online membership sites which is a paid content business model.
Highly successful examples include:-
Disqus – Why 95% Of Bloggers Should Switch
When Disqus first launched, I was a little critical because I like to maintain control of comments, give commenters the benefit of Dofollow links, and ultimately retain control of their user generated content.
I now feel that 95% of bloggers should switch to using Disqus, though I have some reservations.
These are some of the reasons why:-