Online advertising sponsorship will be the "key revenue stream" for Australian Internet portal ninemsn in the short-to-mid term, according to comp-any corporate development director Aaron Pedersen.
In fact, Pedersen estimated a staggering 95 per cent of the Microsoft-Publishing and Broadcasting Limited joint venture's revenues were currently attracted through advertising sponsorship. ninemsn does not expect to gain high revenues through transactions until "some time down the track".
"The Internet user does not believe content should be paid for," Pedersen said.
He also predicted the advent of wireless Internet would see a surge in end-user acceptance of payments for content services such as messaging and news, sport, weather and sharemarket feeds.
Mobile phone users are already accustomed to receiving monthly bills, so would be more willing to pay based on the amount of usage for wireless services such as these, he said. Therefore, "wireless could be a content-based revenue stream", Pedersen added.ninemsn's strategy for providing wireless application protocol (WAP) services would involve partnering with carriers and networking infrastructure providers, Pedersen said.
Although ninemsn suffered a blow earlier this year when a content provision deal with telco giant C&W Optus fell through, Pedersen said the company would only consider building its own wireless infrastructure as a "last-ditch alternative. It [building wireless infrastructure] is a pretty serious commitment."ninemsn, which made losses of $22.1 million on revenue of $8.23 million for the 1998-99 financial year, launched its own WAP service in February. Pedersen said the company would complement this service with a WAP-oriented portal on its Web site within four to six weeks.
