US B2C Online Paid Content: Five-Year Forecast

Since Forrester last published its online paid content forecast in 2006, the world has radically changed. The definition of "online" has expanded. Once defined narrowly as the PC browser-accessed Web, being "online" can now take place on your commute via a mobile device, on your couch from a set-top box or gaming console, and nearly everywhere in between. The definition of "content" has changed, too. No longer mere information, content — especially content consumers are willing to pay for — has morphed into information plus experience. Content that fits this new paradigm, like video games, will be the big winner of consumers' wallet-share, while news articles, TV shows, and other forms of "old" content will increasingly rely on free-content business models: some combination of advertising, "free-mium" pricing, and marketing loss for more profitable channels.