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Did Anyone Subscribe To Ireland.com?

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  • 08-06-2002 6:07am
    #1
    jmcc
    Registered Users Posts: 7,410 ✭✭✭


    Well it is D-Day + 2 [1] and a lot of what was free on Ireland.com has gone PPV. Did anyone actually bother subscribing to it?

    Other Irish publications will probably be watching carefully. The Indo is intending to introduce registration (not necessarily the precursor to ppv within two months). The New York Times and the Irish Examiner have had user registration for years.

    Regards...jmcc
    [1] ireland.com went ppv on 6th of June.


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    #2
    pro_gnostic_8
    Registered Users Posts: 1,223 ✭✭✭pro_gnostic_8


    Well, according to a recent p45.net poll only 1.2% said they would pay the annual 79 yoyos the Irish Times is asking for its online premium news service. A whopping 91% of respondents said they they would never pay. And a Jupiter poll in the States found that 63% of consumers will not pay for any content whatsoever.

    Unfortunately though, it looks as if the days of the totally free Web are passing. Ireland.com is among the first of thousands of sites that will test the PPV model in months to come. But will they become viable commercial ventures (if nobody subscribes) is another question.


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    #3
    tHE vAGGABOND
    Registered Users Posts: 6,687 ✭✭✭tHE vAGGABOND


    As someone who does not live at home, and therefore cant get the paper, I did indeed get a sub, as ireland.com is the best source of of a critical eye on Ireland. I think indo.ie is totall poo and rte.ie is always very slow over here (4 me anyway)

    My brother in the US got a sub with the discount voucher I got with mine..

    I have no problem paying for a decient service over the internet. I think the last few years have proved we cant expect top levels of service for web sites and web portals for nothing. Web hosting and content are not cheap so if you want long term service you have to pay for it.

    Christ, we even here the odd word out of DeVore here that he is thinking of charging for this and that on boards.ie - I would pay for that too :)


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    #4
    Terminator
    Registered Users Posts: 761 ✭✭✭Terminator


    I'm not a huge fan of the site but I hope it goes well and they get lots of subscribers for their content. Just a shame they had to let go 23 people last month.

    God knows if they can't make it work the rest of us in the business are screwed.


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    #5
    jmcc
    Registered Users Posts: 7,410 ✭✭✭jmcc


    Originally posted by Terminator
    I'm not a huge fan of the site but I hope it goes well and they get lots of subscribers for their content. Just a shame they had to let go 23 people last month.

    God knows if they can't make it work the rest of us in the business are screwed.

    I wouldn't say that the rest of the businesses looking to get into the PPV field are screwed. I think that Ireland.com is fscked because it is run by people who don't understand PPV.

    Apart from the hot air section (columnists), there is very little unique content on Ireland.com. That is why for simple news, other sites are far more attractive now.

    Regards...jmcc


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    #6
    Terminator
    Registered Users Posts: 761 ✭✭✭Terminator


    I think the content they offer is unique so if you liked it before when it was free you'll probably sign up for it as there isn't really a comparable free alternative.

    Some people might say RTE.ie is a free alternative but when you consider the licence its not really free.

    As for Ireland.com not understanding ppv - I don't see how they could approach the concept differently to the way they're doing it now.

    If the biggest site in Ireland can't make a go of it then it probably means that we're still not ready for ppv regardless of the quality of the content.


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    #7
    jmcc
    Registered Users Posts: 7,410 ✭✭✭jmcc


    Originally posted by Terminator
    As for Ireland.com not understanding ppv - I don't see how they could approach the concept differently to the way they're doing it now.

    I really don't think that they do understand the concepts behind PPV. (Speaking as an authority on PPV. :) ) There is no differentiation between services, no tiering and no indication that these people have even the slightest inkling of the options open to them. It is basically a mad and desperate last grab for a paying audience.

    If the biggest site in Ireland can't make a go of it then it probably means that we're still not ready for ppv regardless of the quality of the content.

    No. Because these people do not understand the basics of PPV, there is a very high probability of them screwing it up. The blanket subscription is not the best solution for this service. Most large sites are really a constellation of smaller sites. Some of these smaller sites have sufficient traffic for PPV and it is this niche approach to PPV that is the most successful.

    Perhaps the best example of the flaw in ireland.com's logic is in making the 'technology' subsite PPV. The site was a cesspool of mediocrity when it was free and now it has lost its net audience.

    Regards...jmcc


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    #8
    Terminator
    Registered Users Posts: 761 ✭✭✭Terminator


    Those are fair points.

    I guess they could let people pick and choose what sections they want to subscribe to , e.g., sports and business news for €20 per year.


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    #9
    b20uvkft6m5xwg
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,695 ✭✭✭b20uvkft6m5xwg


    My Dad is getting a subscritpion in Work so he will have it in the next few weeks.

    Can someone answer me this though...
    What is to stop me getting his login details and using his account to surf the site. Or in fact what is to stop anyone from sharing an account. (obviously "session" restrictions may exist -ie. no mulitple logins- but apart from that !?)

    Could this be one of the downfalls of PPV ultimately ??


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    #10
    jmcc
    Registered Users Posts: 7,410 ✭✭✭jmcc


    Originally posted by 80project

    Can someone answer me this though...
    What is to stop me getting his login details and using his account to surf the site. Or in fact what is to stop anyone from sharing an account. (obviously "session" restrictions may exist -ie. no mulitple logins- but apart from that !?)

    Could this be one of the downfalls of PPV ultimately ??

    Yes to some extent. It is the old Pubs/Domestic problem. With Pay TV, it is possible to get a domestic subscription to a channel and use the same card in a pub. However it is illegal and the card can be disabled.

    With subscription sharing on Ireland.com, the only way to detect blatent abuse would be through a cookies/log analysis system. The server would deposit an encrypted cookie on the client's PC and then the logs would be analysed to check the patterns of usage. If a strange pattern (multiple Irish ISPs and multiple foreign ISPs on the same account) appeared then it would probably a rogue account.

    The tricky part for Ireland.com is in choosing whether to hit the rogue account or hope for a conversion into multiple accounts. It is one of the main problems with PPV on satellite. Many of the solutions on satellite tend to lock the card to the decoder. Implementing such a thing on Ireland.com would be very dangerous as it would hit any tourists who wanted to read the paper in internet cafes.

    Regards...jmcc


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