Strong U.S. Paid Content Sales Surging Stronger than Overall eCommerce
The recently announced report by the Online Publishers Association shows an online market for paid content bouncing back. According to the report, U.S. consumers spent $748 million for online content in the first two quarters of 2003, an increase of 23% over the same period in 2002. While much of the press is focusing on the continuing strength of social content services for the affluent such as online dating, there are other important key indicators in the report. For example, year-over-year, penetration of online paid content was up 13% in Q1 2003 and 15% in Q2. For the same period, eCommerce growth was up 3% and 4% respectively. While subscription revenues continue to dominate (89% of paid content revenues in the first half of 2003., up from 86% for 2002 annually), micro payments have steadily increased to fully 8.0% in Q2 2003 and revenues from single payments of $50 or more were up a combined 20% in the first half of 2003 relative to Q4 2002. The younger consumers who can afford this content are mostly in good paying jobs - doubtless in institutions where professional content will be an increasingly important part of the mix.