Do internet companies make more money with ads or with subscriptions?

[R J]

As a general rule, does the free-service-with-ads business model or the paid-subscription business model tend to make more money for online companies?

[Jake]

I have to assume advertising is by far the largest overall revenue source, certain paid services that once worked became unprofitable when someone else started offering it for free, some niches like dating may make more from memberships and sticky subscriptions, but again the biggest? dating site Plenty of Fish is advertising based.

You have to offer a very exclusive valuable service to get people to subscribe to it. Some internet guru money making courses costing thousands may be the most artificially high priced service I have seen, the promise of multiplying your investment is easier to sell than spiritual harmony.

A couple of revenue model related articles:
http://www.marginhound.com/revenue-model...-websites/

http://www.smartinsights.com/digital-mar...-business/