Mr. Murdoch, That's Not How The Internet Works

Awhile back, Rupert Murdoch floated the idea that he might move content from his many internet properties behind "paywalls," and hoped other publishers would do the same, as evidently News Corp. isn't making enough money in online ads alone.

Now he's upped the ante. According to The Guardian, Murdoch has now said he might block google and other search engines from indexing his content. Really? The best way to get someone to buy your product is to make it impossible to find? Why not make daily papers available only on CD-ROM while you're at it. Let's try a retail analogy for a second. Let's say magazines in the supermarket weren't profitable (ok, so that part might not be so hypothetical). If you were the publisher of one of these magazines, would you then take it off the shelf, not let the employees know where it is, then expect people to pay to enter a back room where your magazine lived?

There are plenty of businesses that are doing just fine with ad revenue models. I'm not sure why some of the most popular and well known brands in the world would have such a hard time doing it. Maybe ten years ago, in the world of AOL's walled garden this strategy would make a shred of sense. Not now. The bottom line is, people expect their news for free, and while they would prefer to visit some of the names they've trusted for years, they will gladly switch to a free alternative.