Free Website Content - Monetizing Feeds
Publishers are evaluating options and determining how they
can profit from RSS feeds. The two obvious contenders that
publishers are considering using to profit from their RSS
feeds are: subscription RSS feeds and RSS feed advertisements.
Subscriptions.
Subscription feeds are designed so that subscription
fees are charged for unique quality content. Publisher include
teaser copy in the RSS feed and readers have to purchase
a subscription to see the content in its entirety. The New
York Times was the first to introduce the subscription model.
Initially the NY Times faced some resentment from users
who had become accustom to free RSS based content, but ultimately
consumers realize that businesses must achieve profits in
order to continue.
The greater the value of the content contained in the feed
and the uniqueness of the content will determine the success
of subscription based feeds. Simply put, if readers can
obtain the same quality and quantity of content from an
alternative free source they will. Not unlike magazines,
if the content the publisher is providing is unique and
valuable, the subscription model will flourish.
Advertisements.
The web has undergone a number of revisions to online
advertising models. Banner ads, once an effective way to
generate valuable leads are screened or filtered by most
novice users. Text ads have become common place and are
far less effective than they once were, advertising in RSS
feeds was a natural step for online advertisers.
Contextual advertisements or advertisements that relate
to the webpage or RSS feed's content, achieve the highest
rate of success. As a result both advertisers and content
providers should critically evaluate advertisement placement
systems to determine which system produces the highest relevance
in contextually based advertisements.
Google AdSense provides contextually relevant ads while
Pheedo provides related category feeds. Publishers need
to determine which model will produce advertisements that
are relevant to the RSS feed's content and actionable by
feed readers.
Hybrid Advertisements.
Other hybrid alternatives for profiting from RSS feeds
include optionally giving subscribers the choice. A small
fee for many might give subscribers the option to pay for
the feed ad-free or view advertisements in the feed. The
business model is reminiscent of adware in its infancy where
users could use software for an unlimited amount of time.
The software had imbedded advertisements and publishers
were compensated for ad impressions or click-throughs. If
users preferred an ad free version of the software they
could purchase a registered copy that would remove the imbedded
advertisements.
More on Advertising in Feeds with a comparison of ad serving
technologies.
http://www.feedforall.com/advertising-in-rss.htm
Advertising online is constantly evolving. Both content
publishers and advertisers are adapting and evaluating new
advertising models. RSS feed subscriptions and advertising
are merely a step in the evolution of online advertising.
Knowing your audience will help publishers determine the
most effective model for profiting from content contained
in an RSS feed.
About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com
software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and
podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for NotePage
http://www.notepage.net
a wireless text messaging software company.
**********************************************************
This article may be used freely in opt-in
publications and websites, provided that the resource box
is included and the links are active. A courtesy copy of
the issue or a link to any online posting would be greatly
appreciated send an email to sharon@notepage.net
.
Additional articles available for publication available
at http://www.small-business-software.net/free-website-content.htm
**********************************************************
|
