As a site designer, I respect that it costs people time and money to produce this thing we call "The Web." And the web's just not the place it used to be either, back when everything was free...

Unlike Cable TV, for instance, the sites you visit to don't get paid out of your monthly access fee, like the channels you watch do. Ever gotten a bill from your Internet Content Provider? Probably not. Still, it costs someone, somewhere, to give it to you.

It's not like we're all clicking on their ads either though, is it? As a result, more and more news services and extremely high-traffic destinations have begun experimenting with "pay-per" services, to offset the costs of maintaining such quality sites. Most sites fail in their attempts to charge (some disappear altogether, offending their past loyal surfers but still unable to recoup their costs); some sites beg donations; but a very few actually DO succeed in subscription-based viewing of their content - or use of their service - and (gasp!) make a profit from their sites.

Which makes me wonder...

WHAT IF
Google ™ charged 1¢ per search? Would YOU pay it?

I'd say they PROBABLY never will, because they're already profitable from other services. So don't hate me for suggesting it; they're smarter than I am, and have probably thought of it by now. Let's just say maybe I have a hunch about where the industry (as a whole) is going one day. In Google(TM)'s case, by charging they'd risk falling off the map in today's Web, so why should they if they're making money now?

But things could change, and on the web, they often do. The way I see it, Google(TM) is awesome, and everyone deserves their paycheck at the end of the day. If they one day decided they had to charge in order to serve me with the same quality I've grown accustomed to from them, I'd pay it.

Would you?  Here's the terms before you vote, please...

Let's say they make you prepay... say $5 via credit card (more if you want). That's 500 searches before you have to ante up again. Your home computer gets "cookied" and you can use it like always. If you were elsewhere, you'd have to sign on with a user name and password. Schools and libraries still get "to google it" for free, and we'll even say they donate a chunk to charity.

Okay, NOW let me and the world know what you think... 

The above questions and concept are intellectual property
of, and  ©2003 Guy Malone. Link, but don't steal.

Disclaimer: Posting of this poll in no way suggests "inside knowledge," nor have I heard anything in news or industry sources to suggest that Google.com would EVER charge for searches, nor am I suggesting it, or attempting to begin a rumor, or to cause Google(TM) any harm, either financially or in reputation. Neither Guy Malone, GuyMalone.com, nor Bravenet (poll service I'm using) are affiliated with Google (TM).  This is an independant non-commercial personal page. Read all that to mean: Im not worried about getting sued, but as a webdesigner I don't want to piss Google off!

www.guymalone.com