Nick, I am not quite sure what distinction you are making here.
Are you suggesting that sponsored Web publishing is something
other than providing a product (readership) to customers
(advertisers)?
If so, I'm not convinced that there is another way to explain
the current model. If the money comes from your customer -- to
whom you sell something, then it would seem clear that the
advertiser is in that role, not the reader.
The fact that Web publishers have the "possibility" of providing
their product more efficiently to their customer does not change
the economic model.
> I changed the subject line to raise a question. Although I
> think it's self-evident that efficient distributed search is in
> the interest of Internet users, is it in the interest of the
> search service providers to enable it? Is "coopertition" in
> this arena (cooperating competitors) likely?
This is what I was saying in my previous message from the
standpoint of the metasearch-agent. There is no incentive for
the search-engine to provide ease of access to their product
(readers) without compensation. If such features become
ubiquitious, it suggests that the model of sponsored access to
Internet indexes which provide ease of navigation may be in
jeopardy.
On the issue of "coopertition", I doubt it. Since there is
very little to differentiate one search-engine from another,
brand is the strongest value they possess. Cooperating with
competitors diminishes brand.
-- </rr> Rob Raisch, The Internet Company Rob writes weekly on the topic of Internet-enabled advertising and marketing for Mecklermedia's IWORLD <http://netday.iworld.com/business/>Original portions copyright 1996 by Rob Raisch