The problem with most surveys about whether people will pay for online content is that they're conducted on the Internet — and respondents, by definition, have a vested interest in being able to surf the Web forever for nothing.
But one of the most surprising results of a new, more wide-ranging survey by the marketing and media information firm Nielsen was that some people are actually prepared to pay — and they're probably not from the demographic you'd expect.
Nielsen asked 27,000 people across 52 countries if they'd consider paying for internet content. The answer was not, as it usually is, a flat-out no: it was a resounding perhaps.
Before Rupert Murdoch and other champions of paid content get too excited, though, it's worth noting that 71% of respondents say that content would have to be considerably higher quality than the free stuff before they handed over any cash. If they believed they could get the information elsewhere for free, they'd never pay.
So the puzzle that still remains unsolved for providers is exactly how to provide content unique enough that users can't get it elsewhere — and once they have produced it, how to protect it, while still promoting it. How do you balance the two Web models: the one where linking is everything, where you want content picked up by other sites, and the one where your content has to be exclusive?
There are encouraging signs for providers in some categories. According to Nielsen, more than 50% people would be prepared to pay for movies, music and games; exactly half would pay for professionally produced video, and a slightly smaller proportion would pay for magazines.
On the other hand, fewer than a third of people would be prepared to pay for social media, podcasts, news or talk radio, consumer generated video or blogs.
Now for the surprising results. Consumers in the under-20 bracket were most likely to consider paying, whereas those over 65 were the least likely. This, Nielsen speculates, may be because younger consumers are platform agnostic: to them, video is video, whether viewed online or via cable TV, for which they already pay. Another explanation: at under-20, they haven't got many other financial responsibilities. Or hey, it's their parents' money, so what do they care?