NYT has an interesting piece on how some web companies are tearing up the old model of “build huge global audiences with a free service, and let advertising pay the bills”.
“Whenever you have a lot of user-generated material, your bandwidth gets utilized in Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, where bandwidth is expensive and ad rates are ridiculously low,” Mr. Volpi said. If Web companies “really want to make money, they would shut off all those countries.”
Essentially they are now shifting focus on the profitable “Western” markets. This should create opportunities for local entrepreneurs in the areas not targeted!
