LONDON: Microsoft Corporation has
underlined its concerns about the long-term viability of free Internet portals
by indicating it may soon seek to charge users of its popular MSN site, the
Guardian newspaper said on Monday. The paper said Microsoft could develop extra
services for the site and charge users up to 60 pounds ($86.90) a year for
access.
MSN receives 200 million visits every
month worldwide, but is thought to be unable to transform those clicks into
dollars through mere advertising and sponsorship deals.
However subscription-only sites have
met with few successes. Yahoo! announced earlier on Monday that its auctions’
listings had plummeted since January, when the service ceased to be
free-of-charge.
(C) Reuters Limited 2001.