Paid-for content increases - and more jobs for OJs

[Keyword: onlinejournalism]. The UK Association of Online Publishers has just released some research charting an increase in publishers charging for content - as well as an increase in the audiences for that content. The latter statistic is not particularly surprising given that web users and web use generally are increasing - but enough to make chairman Bill Murray state "“It’s very clear that we are starting to see the end of a general perception from consumers that the web is ‘free’".

Stats include :

• 63 per cent of AOP member companies now charge for content online, compared with 58 per cent in 2004.
  
• Paid-for content now provides 19 per cent of overall revenue.
  
• A decline in one-off (micro) payments, and an increase in subscription models.
• The largest source of revenue for respondents remains display advertising, supplying 47 per cent of all revenue. More than half (58 per cent) of AOP members are now generating more than £1 million annually from advertising alone.
• Other sources of revenue include: recruitment classified advertising (14 per cent), content syndication (five per cent), e-commerce, sponsorship, web-design and development, listings, newsletter advertisements, and commission on sales.
  
• Integration of online and offline teams increased to 79 per cent of companies (from 63 per cent in 2004), suggesting online is seen as more of an integral part of the wider organisation than in previous years."
  

But buried away towards the bottom of their press release is some great news for online journalists, as recruitment increases considerably:

"In the past year, 40 per cent of online publishers surveyed took on more online staff, upping their headcount by 10 on average. However, the report also found that 60 per cent of publishers on the web had unfilled vacancies, with nearly eight in 10 of them urgently seeking sales and subscription staff, and nearly half looking for editorial staff."