Yet another way to advertise online

This may be old hat, but it was new to me. I wanted to test the video streaming application at Playon.tv. When I clicked to download the two-week free trial, I was told that all I had to do to get the program was tell my Facebook friends that I was testing it.

I clicked the download button and installed the program. As you see here, it did indeed post news of the test on my Facebook account.

That seems like a fair trade -- I get to try their software and they get some publicity. (They didn't get much publicity because I barely use Facebook). They were honest in telling me what they were going to do and I could have said "no."

Many people are bothered by the way we are tracked and advertised to on the Internet, but, in this case, it seems like a fair, transparent deal.

The value of free: NY Times drops subscription fee

Internet sites generate revenue by charging directly for items (Amazon), subscription fees (Wall Street Journal, premium versions of services) or advertising. Until recently, the New York Times had a mixed revenue strategy -- current news was supported by advertising and they charged a subscription fee for opinion columns and archived articles. They have now dropped their subscription service in favor of advertising.

Times executives may have felt ad revenue would be greater than subscription revenue, but, even if that were not the case, there is a compelling reason to make information free. If access to information is restricted in any way, people will be less likely to refer to it. For example, I would not have linked to a New York Times article on this blog because students would not be able to read the article without paying a subscription fee. By charging a fee, the New York Times had removed itself from the Internet "conversation."

Doug Kaye of the Conversations Network pointed this out some time ago. The New York Times should have listened to his talk on "value of free."

Or, the Times could have read the Internet business classic The Cluetrain Manifesto, which states

A powerful global conversation has begun. Through the Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant knowledge with blinding speed. As a direct result, markets are getting smarter—and getting smarter faster than most companies.

These markets are conversations.

People also "pay" for information by registering on a site. Does having to register stop you from entering sites or using services?