The market for paid online content in the US was worth $361 million in the third quarter of 2002, a rise of 14% on the previous quarter and a 105.3% increase year on year.
Research from the
Online Publishers Association and
comScore Networks found that the number of US consumers paying for web content climbed from 7.9 million in Q3 2001 to 14.8 million in the same period last year. More than one in ten internet users now pay for some form of online content.
Personals/Dating services experienced the fastest growth and are now the biggest earner with revenues of $87 million in the third quarter, a 387% rise year on year. Together with the Business/Investment and Entertainment/Lifestyle categories, they made up 62% of all paid content revenue in the first nine months of 2002.
“Remarkably, during a period of general economic stagnation, the market for online paid content in the US maintained its stunning year-over-year growth rate,” said Michael Zimbalist, executive director of the Online Publishers Association. “As consumer acceptance continues to rise, premium content will play an increasingly important role in the revenue mix for online publishers.”
The upsurge of the sector is demonstrated by the fact that total spending for the first three quarters of 2002 came to $975 million, compared to $670 million for the whole of 2001 and there is no sign that demand is slowing.
