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Rupert Murdoch to remove News Corp sites from Google, institute paywall
The move already strikes some as a bad idea since it could essentially drive potential readers to get their news elsewhere. After all, on the web, information is always just a click away. But theoretically if News Corp can offer readers exclusive content that they won't find anywhere else, loyal readers might be willing to pay up.
OK, so that could work... but Murdoch's latest idea sounds like business suicide: He wants to remove News Corp content from Google's index. In an interview with Sky News Australia, Murdoch said that search engines are essentially stealing News Corp content without paying for it -- and that he plans to remove the corporation's web sites from Google's index.
While Murdoch claims that he doesn't see much value in searchers who often come to web sites without becoming repeat visitors, he's pretty much just plain wrong. Search engines pretty much make the web go round. If Google wasn't the dominant force in search, another company would probably rise to the challenge.
Back when there were only a few hundred web sites worth visiting, it might have been easy to find what you were looking for through old fashioned bookmarks and links. But today users rely heavily on search engines to find information, and web sites rely even more heavily on search engines for traffic and for revenue. Because who's more likely to clickon an ad? Someone who bookmarks your page and comes to it every day and has a pretty good sense of where the ads are on the page and how to ignore them, or someone who was searching for information about cheap automobiles and then came to your auto web site that also happens to have ads for good deals on new and used cars?
Still, Murdoch says he'd rather have fewer people visit his sites, but pay for it. It's possible that Murdoch is bluffing. If not, it should be very interesting to see what happens to News Corp's revenue when the paywall goes up and the sites are removed from Google. If the company winds up making more money than it does today, I'd offer to eat my own hat... you know, if I wore a hat.
You can check out the Sky News interview with Murdoch after the break.
[via The Inquisitr]
Comments
25
Subscribe to commentsRGNov 9th 2009 1:33PM
If only DS was a political forum...just kidding.
Any way historically speaking, pay for info/news online is fail. Pron or Amazon may be money making machines but reading latest news is not unless you are happy to settle for Adsense type money, which no matter how good it may be it is of course not what our Fox friends are looking for.
Sku BoiNov 9th 2009 2:21PM
My main concern isn't with Fox news, its the 24 hour news cycle which encourages over sensationalizing what would be considered a normal event or not news. However if News Corp wants to take themselves off of google or, how most would feel, off the internet all together...GO FOR IT!!!! I mean if you look at some of the top search results on google they're actually websites. For crying outloud google.com is a top search query. Go figure, but honestly have fun commiting suicide Mr. Murdoch, I hope you can find decent buyers for your products and not waste your enterprise.
PeterNov 9th 2009 9:15PM
Do it, Murdoch. Smart move!
(sshhhh, people, dont say anything bad!)
JamesNov 10th 2009 11:42PM
Wow. This is what happens when you try to tell old people about the Internet.
simchaNov 11th 2009 1:27PM
I fear this will actually work, not because I don't want Mr. M. to get any richer but because I think the people deluded enough to believe in the superiorty of FauxNews will be willing to pay to put themselves in a virtual "Liberal Free" world of news. From there they may form a National AntiSocialist Conservative party with Glen Beck and Rush or whatever as leaders who will of course vigorously defend the equality of all and civil liberties just like National (whatever) Parties have done since 1933. Ok thats hyperbole/exageration, I hope.