By: Americans spent $675 million for online content last year, a 92% jump over 2000, according to a report from the Online Publishers Association (OPA) in New York.
The study, conducted by comScore Networks, found that spending increased more than 100% in nearly all content categories during the first quarter of this year. The top three categories were business content, entertainment, and personals/dating -- which accounted for 59% of all spending.
These dollars are being spent on a relatively small number of sites; only about 1,700 U.S.-based Web sites are currently charging for content, the report said. The top domains by consumer content revenue were real.com, wsj.com, match.com, yahoo.com, consumerreports.org, ancestry.com, weightwatchers.com, 1800ussearch.com, matchmaker.com, and consumerinfo.com.
The number of Americans pulling out their credit cards for online content also jumped, from 5.3 million in the first quarter of 2001 to 12.4 million in the same period this year. The study reports that 9.2% of the total Net population in the U.S. has paid for content online.
Eighty-five percent of these sales are for subscriptions, with single purchases accounting for only 15%. Renewals are strong; 72% renewed annual subscriptions.
"With this report and through regular updates, the OPA hopes to add clarity to the increasingly important role of paid content in online publishing," said OPA Executive Director Michael Zimbalist. Several newspaper chains are members of the OPA.
For more information, visit
www.online-publishers.org
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