Today in Connected Consumer
Some consumer facing web sites and services are starting to realize that advertising sales alone won’t pay the bills and are moving to develop more direct revenue streams. Real estate site Zillow, once content to sell ads against its base of free users, is now looking to sell services to real estate agents, the New York Times reports. A separate Times story today discusses efforts by the free, ad-supported shopping magazine Lucky to develop an e-commerce component to its online site to boost revenue. The Times itself, meanwhile, may have found a lifeline in paid digital subscriptions, which are on track to surpass print subscriptions according to a new report, even as online advertising for the Times lags behind.