"[Yahoo's CEO Terry S. Semel] also tried to insulate Yahoo from the vicissitudes of the advertising market by creating products that consumers will pay for, but so far he has found few. He talked at first of charging fees for premium versions of the company's major categories, like news and sports. Research showed that there was not much demand there, and the idea was dropped.
[...]
The company, however, has been quite successful in a few subscription services. Merrill Lynch estimates that Yahoo had revenue of $52 million last year from its online personal ads, $33 million from its premium e-mail product and $62 million from services for small businesses.
[...]
Even so, Mr. Semel has thrown out his initial goal of earning half the company's revenue from fees and is enjoying a wild ride as online advertising rebounds."
Notes and links related to the transition from free to for-fee online services.
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