19 May 2010 | Author: J. Morton News Editor
In the past decade, the newspaper publishing industry has slowly fallen victim to the dominance of online news agencies, with circulation numbers and revenues falling for even the most venerable printed newspapers.
And now, one of the newspapers' main competitors for the way people receive their news - Google - is planning to support the elder medium by easing adaptation to the online environment.
Larry Page, co-founder of Google, in a speaking engagement at Zeitgeist Europe, explained that whilst enduring the digital revolution of news delivery, many outlets - both newspapers and magazines - have failed in maintaining their triumvirate of revenue streams: advertising, subscription and transaction.
"If you look back in history, magazines have all three models in place," Page said. "A healthy model is going to have revenue from all those areas." He added that there is still potential in exclusive content delivered via subscription.
One bonus for newspapers and other publications, he said, was the potential for unlimited distribution, and at a fraction of the cost of physical delivery, which publishers should pursue.
"You don't want models that restrict usage if you can avoid it," Page said. "In general, having a subscription model where things are bundled together [is better].
"If they don't have to think [about individual costs] people will consume more and that has to be good for content producers too. The cost to make content is fixed, so once you make content you want as many people to use it as possible and maximise the amount of money you can make."
CEO of Google Eric Schmidt agreed, saying that Google could act as a facilitator for many ailing news companies.
"Our billing systems and reach is so broad that it should be possible to build subscription services that would allow a paywall, if that is your business choice," Schmidt said. "We believe very strongly that content is owned by the newspaper people and the magazine people."
He reiterated that Google would not act as competition to existing organisations, saying "Google is not going into the news business."
Google co-founder explains intentions to support newspaper industry
In the past decade, the newspaper publishing industry has slowly fallen victim to the dominance of online news agencies, with circulation numbers and revenues falling for even the most venerable printed newspapers.And now, one of the newspapers' main competitors for the way people receive their news - Google - is planning to support the elder medium by easing adaptation to the online environment.
Larry Page, co-founder of Google, in a speaking engagement at Zeitgeist Europe, explained that whilst enduring the digital revolution of news delivery, many outlets - both newspapers and magazines - have failed in maintaining their triumvirate of revenue streams: advertising, subscription and transaction.
"If you look back in history, magazines have all three models in place," Page said. "A healthy model is going to have revenue from all those areas." He added that there is still potential in exclusive content delivered via subscription.
One bonus for newspapers and other publications, he said, was the potential for unlimited distribution, and at a fraction of the cost of physical delivery, which publishers should pursue.
"You don't want models that restrict usage if you can avoid it," Page said. "In general, having a subscription model where things are bundled together [is better].
"If they don't have to think [about individual costs] people will consume more and that has to be good for content producers too. The cost to make content is fixed, so once you make content you want as many people to use it as possible and maximise the amount of money you can make."
CEO of Google Eric Schmidt agreed, saying that Google could act as a facilitator for many ailing news companies.
"Our billing systems and reach is so broad that it should be possible to build subscription services that would allow a paywall, if that is your business choice," Schmidt said. "We believe very strongly that content is owned by the newspaper people and the magazine people."
He reiterated that Google would not act as competition to existing organisations, saying "Google is not going into the news business."
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