JupiterResearch Google Report: $125 per page
by Robbie, March 24, 2006
Richard MacManus discusses the highlights of a $750 report from JupiterResearch on Google. The report is only 6 pages long which comes out to $125 per page! That’s a nice business if you can get people to pay that. In his analysis, Richard says the report is well researched and provides some good information, but $750? To be completely fair, it looks like you also get a half hour with the analyst who wrote the report if you are gullible…I mean interested enough to buy the report. Granted it isn’t like Jupiter is targeting the average Google user with their report. They are going after execs of Google’s competitors most of whom don’t mind paying big bucks for a short report. I wonder if John Battelle consolidated his book on Google into a 10 page summary if he could sell it for $500+ as a “research report”?
This is a great illustration of how content is not created equal. Currently, you can charge a lot more for content in a bookstore than you can online. Similarly, you can charge significantly more for online content marketed as “eLearning” or “Research” than you can for news, articles, essays, and the like. How you market your content plays a big role in how much you can charge for it.
I’d love to run an experiment with three websites with one being marketed as “eLearning”, another as a “Research” site, and the last as a content site. Then take similar content and package it based on the flavor of the website and charge for access to it. I bet you’d see a big discrepancy in the revenue each site gets despite having very similar content.
Great thought experiment. As an analyst I am the first to admit there is a disconnect in research vs everything else. Something that is in the process of going through a major correction.
Stiennon March 24th, 2006
How is it going through a correction? Jupiter’s pricing doesn’t seem to indicate they are concerned about charging outrageous fees.
Robbie March 24th, 2006
Don’t knock it. I’ve sold hundreds of $750+ research reports
over the years, many with a one month money-back guarantee.
The return rate is less than 2%. Folks will pay for good information.
Think of it like getting legal advice. One guy goes to a lawyer, one
guy picks up a magazine with an article on the subject, and one guy
just asks the other guys in the bar. They’ve all paid different prices
for their info. Who is in the best position to act? And who’s ass
is best covered if it all goes wrong? ;)
Publisher Mike March 24th, 2006
I’m not knocking Jupiter for doing. More power to them. I’m just trying to rationalize it. Is a research report really worth 10-20 times more than a book on a similar topic that is 50 times larger?
Robbie March 24th, 2006
Sometimes less is more.
ARonaut March 27th, 2006
“less is more” is an oversimplification. Simply providing less does not allow analysts to charge 10-20 times as much for their content as technical book publishers.
Research content is deemed more valuable by consumers and corporations. I’ve been a user of Gartner and Burton reports for many years so I’m very familiar with what they offer. Generally, the authors of technical books are considered much more of the industry experts in the field than analysts. Sure, the book authors may be focused at a lower level, but I don’t think there is much that separates their thinking (and content) from analysts.
It is all about how content is packaged.
Robbie March 27th, 2006