Forbes Recognizes That There Are Better Business Models Than Pure Advertising

from the about-time dept

Tue, May 11th 2010 10:15pm — Mike Masnick

We've been making this point for years (and living it with our Insight Community offering), but it appears that other media providers are finally recognizing that there really are other business models than "advertising" or "subscriptions." There's been this theory out there for the longest time that those were the only possible ways to make money in the publication space. Thankfully, it looks like more and more publications are recognizing there are other options as well. A few folks sent over news that Forbes appears to be making the same point, noting that advertising is a commodity, but services are not. Thus, they're launching a "reputation tracker" for companies.

While Jay Rosen was kind enough to compare Forbes' new offering to our Insight Community, I'm not sure it's quite there yet. It looks like Forbes' offering is more just about getting feedback from people, rather than really leveraging the strengths of the community. Frankly, it still amazes me that more media publications don't do more for their community (and in some cases, actively fight their own community). The whole reason media works as a business is because it brings together a community, and then does something with that community. The traditional model was to just sell their eyeballs -- which only gets you so far. I think models that focus on actually using the intelligence in that community to do something useful seems a lot more powerful. Hopefully, Forbes' step in that direction is an indicator that more media publications are realizing there's more to a business model than advertising and subscriptions.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: advertising, business models, journalism, services, subscriptions
Companies: forbes

7 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

The Buzz Saw (profile), 11 May 2010 @ 11:14pm

Wow
WHAT? The corporations are not always right? How long have you been sitting on this information?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Chargone (profile), 11 May 2010 @ 11:52pm

Re: Wow
*thinks* for given values of 'you', probably since ~5 minutes after someone came up with the idea of the corporation.

for taken values of 'you', the answer is likely to be 'pancakes'
[ link to this | view in thread ]
John Pagonis, 12 May 2010 @ 1:01am

Non ad-based revenue models are too frightening to media
Not basing their revenue models on ads is too frightening for big media, so they are in denial.

Apparently they hope that the environment that allowed them to command the margins they once had from controlling access to those eyeballs will return back after the recession.

If only they realised that their function as a media company is to acquire, maintain and monetise audiences, they could look into alternatives. Some of which we very recently discussed in a workshop at the Media Camp Athens event http://www.pagonis.org/dialogue/MCA2010.html.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Hephaestus (profile), 12 May 2010 @ 7:05am

Funny thing
They have a report on "time "Warner Music Group", "
I would really like to read that one but ... LOL ... nut I am not a member

here is the link Reputation Institute
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 12 May 2010 @ 2:54pm

forbes is not implying anything is 'better', only that there are other parallel business opportunities that exist within the scope of being an information provider. if the model was that much better, they would drop the poor model overnight, which they are clearly not doing. business add potential revenue streams all the time, not that these new streams are better, only that they compliment the existing business, use the existing infrastructure, or allow them to leverage their existing strengths without nearly as much cost. then again, someone with an mba should know that, right mike?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Tesfay haile, 2 Jul 2010 @ 8:29pm

Business
Well the corporation are always right because they have money.
http://www.informationtou.com/advertising/
[ link to this | view in thread ]
what is yacon, 8 Feb 2014 @ 9:01am

what is yacon
Forbes is not implying something is actually 'better', solely that we now have some other parallel work at home opportunities which exist from the scope of being a great info service provider. when the product had been very much greater, they might decrease poor people product right away, that they can are obviously not really performing. organization add prospective profit channels on a regular basis, not really the particular brand-new channels are greater, solely that they accompany the present organization, utilize the active structure, or allow them in order to power their own active benefits with out nearly as much charge. nonetheless, somebody by having an mba should be aware of that will, appropriate scott?
[ link to this | view in thread ]