All About Content

I reported earlier that Gates prophesized search engines will be paying Web surfers to use their services at some point. He’s said it again, and people are reading between the lines to conclude that he’s hinting MSN Search will do this soon.

WebProNews says another spokesperson, however, said Microsoft had no immediate plans to start paying users. And consulting company Ovum reminds us:

Payment for viewing ads is a tactic that has been tried before, and is fundamentally flawed. There were in the tech boom a number of attempts to make this model work, including in the US offers of low or no cost PCs for users prepared to view lots of ads and/or click though on them. The fundamental flaw is that the advertisers want people who have money to spend on their goods and services. This generally excludes people who are prepared to spend hours on their computer viewing ads and following clicking-throughs.

Gates said in an earlier interview that MSN makes about $50 per user. How much would MSN be willing to pay out for customer acquisition? How much would a search engine need to pay you to switch?