Public 'will pay for web services'

Online ad industry warnings of impending doom over ad-blocking software appear to be wide of the mark after a new study revealed that consumers in Europe are just as willing to pay for a service as they are to share their personal data to get it for free.
A ComRes digital consumer survey carried out on behalf of the European Telecommunications Network Operators’ Association (ETNO) found that 34% of consumers said they would “prefer being charged a monetary fee for using a service” if it meant they did not have to “share personal data with the service provider”.
Meanwhile 32% of consumers “would prefer sharing their personal data with a service provider” if it meant they were not charged.
The ad industry, including the IAB and client body ISBA, have consistently warned that ad blocking software threatens to kill off the Internet as we know it because so many of the services people use are paid for by advertising.
In total, ComRes surveyed 9,011 consumers aged 15 and over from nine EU countries, including the UK, Germany and France, for their views on a range of communication services issues.
Perhaps surprisingly, given financial services frims record in keeping data safe, most consumers believe banks are the best at informing them at how they handle their personal data.
ComRes said 63% of respondents said they believed banks performed fairly well or very well in this respect, compared with 49% and 48% of consumers who said their email service provider and insurer respectively kept them informed.
The report also highlighted strong support for organisations to inform consumers about data breaches, with some 88% of consumers believing banks should be “legally required” to inform them if they suffered a breach of their personal data they were holding.
More than three quarters of respondents support similar obligations on telecoms firms, insurers, email service providers and social networks, it said.