WWW: Beyond the Basics

Chapter 8. Commerce

8.3.2. Arguments Against Microcent Transactions

Arguments against microcent transactions include the difficulty of maintaining records for thousands of microcent transactions, the lack of technology that currently supports transactions on this small magnitude, and the general resistance to users paying for content.

Currently, Web content providers receive the majority of their income from advertisers who pay for prominent advertising space on the provider's Web site. It is easier to keep up with a limited number of advertisers than hundreds of thousands of microcent transactions.

The payment systems described in Section 8.2 are designed for transactions with a minimum worth of between $0.25 and $1.00. No current available technology exists to support microcent transactions. Additionally, most also include some form of encryption, which requires significant processing power for each transaction. For microcent transactions to be feasible, the cost of processing for each transaction must be extremely small. No current payment system has this level of cost per transaction.

Only in the past couple years have some Web sites charged its users for access. Most Web users are accustomed to paying a single fee for access to the Internet, and then paying nothing for the accessed content. Charging users on a widespread basis in any way will likely meet with resistance.

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Copyright © 1996 Patrick N. Brooks All Rights Reserved

Patrick N. Brooks <pbrooks@vt.edu>