The link economy v. the content economy

In media, we are moving from a content economy to a link economy.

The AP Affair is the best illustration of the clash between these two worldviews.

Let’s turn the discussion on its head. Let’s say that the real value in this equation is not content and information — both of which are now quickly commodified — but links, which are the new currency of media. Links can be exploited and monetized; get links and you can grab audience and show ads and make money. Content is becoming a cost burden, what you have to have to get the links, but in and of itself, content can’t draw value without an audience, without links.

So now let’s turn this fight on its head. The AP should not be asking for payment for its content. The bloggers should be asking for payment for their links. That is where the value is in this economy.

Step away from that ‘comment’ link. I am not seriously suggesting that bloggers should demand or accept payment for links. Indeed, that would be quite unethical — very PayPerPosty: selling out and devaluing our credibility. That’s why we don’t do it. Our link ethic would not allow it.

Still, there is value in our links and the AP, if it understood this new economy would understand that it is a gift economy and links are presents that can be given or earned but not bought. But the AP is still operating in the content economy, which values control instead. That age has passed.

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29 Responses to “The link economy v. the content economy”

  1. Link Economy « Wir sprechen Online. Says:

    [...] Quotes Jarvis: “In media, we are moving from a content economy to a link economy”; http://is.gd/Aih [...]

  2. delade | The link economy v. the content economy Says:

    [...] Orginalpost: The link economy v. the content economy [...]

  3. PXLated Says:

    Good post/observation…without a link, I won’t know about their content, it doesn’t exist.

  4. Brian Cubbison Says:

    The AP wants bloggers to play by its rules, but it’s too late. Bloggers want AP to play by blogosphere rules, but the AP is not a blog.

    What good are links for the AP? What would the AP do with them, or page views? Sell Google Ads around them at ap.org? Go to A-list blog meet-ups? The AP is not a blog. It’s a B2B operation.

    The AP is a wholesaler, trying to be a retailer, where people give away the fruits and vegetables from their gardens.

  5. Adam Says:

    More to the point I’d say we’re in an attention economy, and links have value proportional to the amount of attention that they draw to the linked source.

  6. Tom Says:

    F**k the AP. Let the market take its course. Reuters is offering free APIs for bloggers and anyone else who wants to build on their content. Which company will prosper and which company will wither while rest of the world moves beyond them?

  7. Jeff Jarvis Says:

    Good question, Brian. I’m writing one more post about just that.

  8. BuzzMachine » Blog Archive » Whither the AP Says:

    [...] and conflict with its members/owners. As Brian Cubbison says in the comment here, the AP is a wholesaler trapped in a retail world. Reuters is dealing with that conflict because it’s not owned by [...]

  9. Barney Lerten Says:

    But you have to have things (news is just one of them) of value and substance to link TO. It’s a symbiotic, chicken and egg, can’t have one without the other - far, far from an either/or. So let’s not argue chicken/egg and figure out how to save the damn poultry farm we all depend on to eat well;-)

  10. Leigh Ann - My Family Doctor Mag Says:

    Interesting point. Thank you for making it. Makes me think.

  11. Seth Finkelstein Says:

    A most excellent summary of the viewpoint. This part is especially concise:

    “Links can be exploited and monetized; get links and you can grab audience and show ads and make money. Content is becoming a cost burden, what you have to have to get the links …”

  12. The link economy v. the content economy | businessuu Says:

    [...] the links, but in and of itself, content can’t draw value without an audience, without links. [Read original] Tags: Audience, Clash, Content Economy, Currency, Illustration, Money, Moving Related [...]

  13. links for 2008-06-19 « David Black Says:

    [...] The link economy v. the content economy - BuzzMachine “Ket’s say that the real value in this equation is not content and information — both of which are now quickly commodified — but links, which are the new currency of media.” (tags: internet media journalism economics links ap) [...]

  14. Anon Says:

    If you are going to discuss the link economy, you need to start taking a look at some of the problems and conflicts of interest surrounding Google. They have a monoply share of between 60-65% of the global search market, and they started banning website content publishers who sell link advertisements on their own websites.

    Google, with 2 competing ad networks of their own in adsense and soon in doubleclick, also recently inked an advertising deal with Yahoo. A recent analyst said the lion’s share of Google’s profits come from advertising revenue, and a recent survey of Time’s top 50 websites found 33 of them were using google adsense. The squeeze to drive revenue to their own service has been successful.

    So a company with a monopoly share of the search market and 2 competing ad networks is dictating how consumers and content producers can sell legitimate adversiting. If the market is moving from a content economy to a link economy, government regulation in this instance is needed.

  15. Jeff Jarvis Says:

    Link advertisements are an effort to game Google and are within rights to avoid them.

  16. The A.P., Link Economies, and the Art of Storytelling « Upendra Shardanand Says:

    [...] is a lot of conversation about link economies, and particularly the AP’s linking [...]

  17. Ari Soglin Says:

    Brian asked, “What good are links for the AP?”

    If an AP article on my web site gets linked, I get more visitors to my site, I make more money, I’m more inclined to do business with AP.

  18. Brian Cubbison Says:

    Ari, it sounds like you’re a retailer who buys material from AP the wholesaler. (Google indicates that to be the case.) I understand that situation very well. Now, if everybody links to AP the retailer, those links do neither of you any good. Can AP go to its members and say, “Pay us more because we got more clicks this month on Google”?

    Then there’s the blogger who doesn’t buy AP material but links to it occasionally. No real harm, but no real return for AP.

    There’s the sports forum where fans will post whole AP stories. The harm might be random but precedent-setting, with no return for you and no return for AP.

    Then there’s the aggregator that doesn’t buy from AP but builds a business around a large collection of links, including to large quantities of AP. Even if the aggregator buys, why should anyone else buy from AP? “Do what you do best and link to the rest.”

    AP tried impose its own rules on an unruly sphere, rules that were stricter than the generally accepted understanding of fair use, and had to back down. But AP runs the risk of ending up with one customer and almost no suppliers.

  19. BuzzMachine » Blog Archive » Ununderstanding the link economy Says:

    [...] Ardia reports on the fundamental misunderstanding of the link economy of media at the Carnegie-Knight Conference on the Future of Journalism. I got the quote from Jay [...]

  20. Beta Alfa » Blog Archive » AP skapar citeringsregler för bloggare Says:

    [...] “The AP should not be asking for payment for its content. The bloggers should be asking for payment for their links. That is where the value is in this economy.” skriver Jeff Jarvis. [...]

  21. Amanda Congdon Says:

    Great post, Jeff. My sentiments exactly. Bloggers trade in links! The new global currency. Made a video about it here: http://snurl.com/2nixc

  22. Wrong and Illegal | Xyleme Learning Blog Says:

    [...] events move online, what the AP seems likely to have done is to just cut themselves out of the link economy. Jeff Jarvis suggests that this could be the end of [...]

  23. eTc :: El blog de Marketing en Español » Blog Archive » Contenidos y la economía de los enlaces como estrategia SEO Says:

    [...] Más información Buzzmachine [...]

  24. BuzzMachine » Blog Archive » Google competes with the internet Says:

    [...] the link economy, it becomes incumbent upon the receiver of a link to monetize it and newspapers do get a lot of [...]

  25. Where are the long and thought provoking articles? | Glowrich on New Media Says:

    [...] news outlets. Not really a long article, but several short ones about the same issue. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Michael Arrington at TechCrunch wrote about the same [...]

  26. Earn money by saving « Manujarch’s Weblog Says:

    [...] The link economy v. the content economy [...]

  27. Tiago Dória Weblog » Blog Archive » NYT também compartilha leituras e reconhece a importância dos links Says:

    [...] Pelo visto, já entenderam a importância da “economia do link“. [...]

  28. NY Times spreads the link love at Tangents Says:

    [...] the Ideas blog. Basically like an old style blog they’re pointing you to the good stuff. The link economy is bedding in at the Grey [...]

  29. Friend-politics (Cronyism) | Glowrich on New Media Says:

    [...] as most of us are now. Just like how newspapers can be more transparent, and more trust-worthy in a link-economy, when they show what information and from who they’ve used for every [...]

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