The old goes new: Charging for online content

Rumors are a-swirling that Rupert Murdoch may discontinue the practice of allowing search engines such as Google to index his websites' content.

This is one of the most influential media moguls ever, so that's a pretty heavy stance, if it's true. This could change the online news industry big time, seeing as Murdoch owns all sorts of newspapers and websites all over the world, especially big names like the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, etc.

A long time ago, when the web was still new, businesses tended not to provide free content as well. That was because advertising wasn't readily available, and the only source of revenue for content had to be subscription payments, just like regular newspapers. Or at least, advertising wasn't as widespread, and news companies just didn't provide free information online.
As advertising is dropping off in profitability due to the vast amounts of "real estate" for advertising online, all thanks to a boom in the sheer number of websites that duplicate or take content away from news websites, news companies are increasingly wary of the lower profitability.

If we return to those days of subscription services, would you still pay for online content? It seems a lot of people still do pay, as the Wall Street Journal charges for their content, and yet remains profitable.

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