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Friday, September 11, 2009

Media Will You Give Pennies to Save Journalism?

Posted by Paul Constant on Fri, Sep 11, 2009 at 11:34 AM

Apparently, Google believes that micropayments are the future for online newspapers, saying the platform will be available sometime in 2010. Google says that "the idea is to allow viable payments of a penny to several dollars by aggregating purchases across merchants and over time."

It goes on:

“There will be some set of news content that is inappropriate for putting behind a pay wall. For example, basic reporting on the news of the moment that is covered by multiple sources,” it said. “Users are unlikely to pay for access to this type of content, given that it is highly likely to be available somewhere online for free. The type of content most suitable for a premium/pay subscription service will likely include deeply researched pieces.”

I am kind of charmed by the idea that Google believes people will pay money—even pennies—for good journalism. That said, I'm certainly more likely to pay for a phone application, for instance, if it's 99¢. If this micropayment plan is set up to be incredibly easy (just pushing one button for a five or ten cent purchase), I could see myself doing that. I could also see a news piracy industry popping up instantaneously thereafter.

In other Google news, they're going to allow any bookseller to sell their digital books. And the copyright office is coming out against Google for its book settlement, possibly because of things like this, which I certainly do not endorse or suggest you attempt. Buy your goddamned books like everyone else.

Comments (8) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment

well. . . buy your goddamned books like everyone else or check them out of the goddamned library (when it's open).

Posted by LuisitaPhD on September 11, 2009 at 11:38 AM

How am I supposed to buy my goddamn books if they are out of print? Hunt for them on Ebay or call all around town to used stores? Currently, Google is only scanning orphan and out of print books that no publisher sees fit to monetize. Am I correct on that point?
Google has also reached an agreement on royalties and control rights with license holders for more current works. I agree with micropayments for news, but not with the blanket resistance to Google Books.

Posted by seattlebikeguy on September 11, 2009 at 11:55 AM

@2, no, Google Books has all kinds of recent stuff.

Posted by Fnarf

on September 11, 2009 at 12:31 PM

You mean shamelessly stolen recent stuff.

Posted by Will in Seattle

on September 11, 2009 at 1:33 PM

I don't know what the fuss is about, I would be more than happy to pay micro payments for exclusive content.

Posted by Rotten666 on September 11, 2009 at 2:05 PM

All depends on the content. Like they say, it won't work for generic, general news. But for specific information I could see it working. IE if I was looking for a new toaster and wanted to know what consumer reports had to say about toasters, I'd be willing to spend a few cents on that as it provides real value. Sadly, most news these days provides none.

Posted by vailripper on September 11, 2009 at 3:22 PM

It's not practical to charge money to shovel bits around any more. We can copy data just fine on our own, and you can't make it much easier for us than it already is. A tip jar is one of the only practical options. I'd chip in towards an organization that focused on news and dropped the sports and lifestyle crap.

Posted by Phil M

on September 11, 2009 at 3:38 PM

Mperia thought micropayments could sustain MP3 music sales. They were sadly wrong.

I'm not sure a system can make money for niche media like Google thinks it can. And they probably haven't really done their research on the subject.

Posted by Gomez