Article Abstract:
America Online's (AOL) move to unlimited access pricing has made major changes in the way its content providers do business. Under the previous pricing scheme, content providers under contract with AOL received a share of the per-minute pricing revenues based on usage of their site. Now, under the flat-rate pricing strategy effective in Dec 1996, content providers have seen traffic double while revenues remain level. Such businesses will have to rely more on advertising and online commerce, and develop a Web presence to mirror their AOL site. Many seek to develop a name outside of the access provider giant, whose failure to provide the infrastructure for unlimited access traffic caused a furor among subscribers. AOL is also planning to consolidate its most popular sites, following a television model of content delivery. Companies who already advertise on America Online sites are pleased with the substantial increase in traffic.
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Publisher and entrepreneur David Bunnell is planning to start an online information service called Content.com where book publishers and book lovers can exchange information about books. Bunnell is planning to make money from his service by charging the publishers a fee to have their books and authors featured on the service. He is also planning to have advertisers on the service and sees companies such as American Express sponsoring book forums on travel-related books. Subscribers will have to pay for access to the Internet but they will not pay a fee to use Content.com. Users are excited about the prospect of Bunnell starting the service because he has started some of the computer industry's most successful computer magazines, such as PC Magazine, Macworld and most recently, New Media magazine.
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Starwave Corp unveils its 'Mr Showbiz' site on the World Wide Web (WWW). Mr Showbiz is dedicated to the entertainment industry, and offers whimsical yet telling insights into movies, music and personalities. Unlike many WWW sites, this one will not focus on technology or its social implications. Instead, Mr Showbiz will feature work from professional writers and have an irreverent tone. The site's editors have pedigrees from magazines such as Spy and the New Yorker. Starwave, owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, is a leader in multimedia and electronic publishing.
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