Question

One consequence of so many “free” online products and services is that we are being bombarded by advertisements. For online news stories, we now see a 30 second advertisement between each news story video, some of which are not even 30 seconds in length. It is now to the point that it is difficult to impossible to pay for some products or services without advertising. Is this a sustainable business model? Explain.

Answer 1

This is not at all a suatainable Business Model. I think the online product manager should not compare its business model with that of being used in Television products. Bombardment of advertisements in between two videos or between two stories in free online products should always be avoided. They should explore some other way to generate the revenues. Such type of intentionally infused advertisements does not only discourages the viewers to watch its products but also in a long run viewers will migrate to other online products. Such business model is vulnerable. People come to watch the online products because of their choice. They customize the product according to their taste & choice. Advertisements are like filler which are not being sought by the viewers.

It distroys the mood of the viewers to continue with the video. They come on to watch such products keeping in mind that it will be advertisement free but to the sad if it continues coming in between then it's won't be a WOW factor for them. This is not something which delights the viewers.

For such type of needs, the product manager should always follow the KANO model as shown below:

The viewers will always go for the product or services which will give excited quality and will be a delighter factor for them.

Hence, such product manager should always identify the alternate business model to earn revenue rather than to infusing advertisements without informing the viewers.