I wasn’t convinced that charging for images was a good idea, when Electronics Talk and the other Pro-Talk sites redesigned. Agencies have now been asked to complete a survey from Pro-Talk to fine a fair price for publishing images, videos and slide shows. Although I’d be the first to say that media owners have to make a profit, I am really not sure that Pro-Talk is taking the right approach. The undoubted success of sites like Electronics Talk has primarily been driven by two factors: SEO and email [newsletters]. Unless paying the fixed monthly charge includes a package to drive additional traffic, I’m not convinced that companies will see a significant benefit in posting images and videos. This doesn’t mean I can see no value in paying for online videos or slide shows. If videos were charged on a pay-per-view basis, incentivising the website to drive relevant traffic, the situation would be very different. Sadly I suspect this isn’t going to happen in the near future.
