Thanks, party time for the response. I did in-fact did a search, and I came up with the same BS statements that emanate from Goldston lips, which was why I provided a STRONG link to a more objective analytical article.
The facts speak for themselves. The article ranked ISPs in terms of active users as well as paid subscribers. You tend to weigh active users as the proper metric; I view paid subscribers as the more legitimate metric, and arguably so does NZRO judging from its latest efforts to move to a paid subscription model. Its an all but NZRO admitted fact that the free advertising model doesn't work. It was a complete failure. Any effort or PR to lay claim to subscribers based upon that model TODAY is flawed.
It is only fair and equitable to judge NZRO today and going forward on how successful it will be in evolving into a paid subscription model along with JWEB. On this note, the ranking per paid subscriber is clearly the representative way to rank ISPs today. Any ranking based upon active users is pure BS that even NZRO by its own conduct admits is no longer a viable model. So how can you come here and support such a ranking when underlying such a claim as the second largest ISP is some presumption that non-paying subscribers still count. They only count IF NZRO can convert them to paying subscribers, which is the ONLY metric upon which to rank ISPs.
Re: "I think ultimately you'll acknowledge the second largest ISP service will be the merged combination of NetZero and Juno into a stronger United Online. When you consider a possible second deal thrown into the mix, America might finally see a formidable competitor to AmericaOnline."
I can't see how. In terms of paying subscribers, as of roughly the second Q of this year the COMBINED company ranked 8th. NZRO now claims 200,000 paying subs, so add a 100,000 to the 1 million figure in that article. I don't know about JWEBs growth, but arguably they're still 8th TODAY. Moreover, they are NOT YET a merged company. I would speculate, if NZRO is moderately successful they might jump ahead of AT&T and Gateway, which would place them in 6th in terms of paid subscribers, a far cry from 2nd, which implies they would have to quintuple their paid subscriber base. Get real. |
