While many of these players have established solid online properties, they have generally been seen as an extension of their traditional audience and are based around a free access, ad-supported business model. To sustain high-quality content, they will need to use some form of subscription-based access to ensure delivery of specialized and exclusive content. The Wall Street Journal led the way as far back as 1997, but ever more established content sites will move towards paywalls and subscription models. What does this mean for brands and marketers? More fragmentation – with consumers now having to pay, you can expect audience sizes for.
