Sites Offer Subscription-Only Ad-Free Versions

April 25, 2001 — -- See the ad flashing at the top of this page? How much would you pay to get rid of an even flashier ad?

Starting today, Salon.com is hoping some users will pay $30 per year, partly to make that happen. "Salon Premium" will spare users the ads, and give more features including dispatches on politics, extra columns, audio downloads of F. Scott Fitzgerald short stories, and "premium-only galleries of erotic art and photography" similar to items previously viewable for free from the site's "Sex" index.

Or, users could continue to use the free site — despite bigger, louder ads seen headed for the Web to combat the perceived ineffectiveness of current banner ads stripped across the tops of Web pages.

Traditionally, with the exception of The Wall Street Journal, which also runs Web ads, paid Internet sites have been unsuccessful. However, an industry analyst believes the choice between a traditional site and an alternate ad-free subscription site may become a trend in coming months, as large "interactive marketing units" replace or supplement traditional banner ads and demand more attention from Web users.

"My prediction is that as these units are implemented and put on these sites, because they're more obtrusive, people will be more open to paying for content that is ad-free," says Denise Garcia, research director for media at Gartner, Inc. of Stamford, Conn.

Salon, an upscale but economically ailing Webzine, has had to lay off about a third of its staff in recent months. It hopes the move to create free and subscription-only options will bring in much-needed revenue, but does not see it as a "silver bullet" to instantly make the site profitable, a spokesman says.

At least one other site is offering an ad-free option in addition to a free site with advertising — albeit little more than public service ads. The Quia Corporation operates a site offering resources to educators, and says it has 400,000 unique users. The site recently started charging schools and other facilities approximately $2 per student per year for ad-free content and custom-tailored educational quizzes and games.