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Would You Pay A Penny Per Page?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the how-about-penny-per-annoying-popup-ad dept.

nebby writes "How Stuff Works is running an article regarding the "penny per page" model for web site compensation. It sounds like a very viable solution, being simple to understand, transparent to use, and fair to the webmasters and users involved. The only downside to it is that it would require a massive effort on the part of web sites, standards bodies, and/or ISPs to switch over. I know that methods of online payment have been brought up before, but in searching on Google I found no information about any groups or companies looking seriously into moving to this model. I was wondering if any such groups or initiatives have been put together, and if not, why not? :) It doesn't take much to imagine the possibilities of what the web could become if this were put in place ..." Penny-per-page actually sounds like one of the better micropayment ideas I've heard, but is just as vaporous as any of the others so far.

2 of 703 comments (clear)

  1. snooze by sulli · · Score: 1, Troll
    Micropayments is the wave of the future and always will be. Why? Too damned difficult to set up and use! The vast, vast majority of web uers hate being nickel-and-dimed, and so won't sign up for this - and most content providers will figure out pretty quickly that it's more trouble and expense than it's worth.

    The only paysite method that works is subscriptions. Wall Street Journal and pr0n sites agree on this one. A second method that sometimes works is donations. Thats it!

    The fact that most sites aren't worth the bux has nothing to do with the payment method. It's just that most sites aren't worth the bux. Slashdot is worth something, but it's the exception!

    --

    sulli
    RTFJ.
  2. Re:That's REALLY expensive by RalphSlate · · Score: 0, Troll

    So you're arguing that people should only pay for transfer, that no site should be compensated for creating content, and that every site should only be compensated their costs for transferring that content to others, but no more?

    That's seems to be like saying that an employer should only pay their employees enough to drive to work every day.

    Ralph