The Toronto Star said it would begin testing micropayments for its website content last week, making it one of the first major news publishers to experiment with the monetization approach.
Micropayments have been discussed by publishers for years and a range of vendors have emerged offering various spins on the concept, but few publishers have decided to test them seriously – usually because of concerns about their economics, payment friction, and the possibility they might cannibalize their subscriber bases.
That hesitance appears to be softening, as subscription businesses mature and the thirst for new marketing and monetization options becomes more acute. More publishers are now exploring micropayments and more flexible paid access options – some to appeal to their casual and/or younger audience segments, and others as a simple way to highlight the relative value of their subscription offerings.