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Indians ready to pay for only ‘quality’ online content: Nielsen
MUMBAI: Nearly nine out of ten Indians believe that free content on the internet should remain free in the future. However, three fourth of the Indians are willing to pay for the content if the quality is significantly better than what is currently free online, according to a survey conducted by The Nielsen Company.
As per the survey, 70 per cent Indians are willing to pay for online content if they get the right to copy it and share it with others. 63 per cent will pay if the payment system is easy to use and 61 per cent Indians are willing to pay for the same content online if the costs are comparable to what they currently pay off-line for it.
Nearly, seven in 10 Indians (69 per cent) would rather pay for individual pieces of content instead of subscribing to the entire website. Three-fourth of the consumers will stop using the website if they have to pay for the content because they can find the same information on a free site.
Said The Nielsen Company associate director – Nielsen Online Karthik Nagarajan, “Internet is a huge space and content is available for free at the click of a button. Out there exists immense quantity of information but most of it lacks in quality, and this stress on quality by consumers will be a major factor in driving consumers to pay for online content.”
The Nielsen survey polled more than 27,000 consumers in 54 countries globally and examined consumer attitudes to paying for online content. Results show that 29 per cent Indians have already paid for books, while 19 per cent have paid for online magazines, and 18 per cent have paid for music.
When asked on what they would consider paying for in the future, half the Indian consumers said they were prepared to pay for books (50 per cent), magazines & music (both 47 per cent), and professionally produced videos, including current television shows (46 per cent). Many consumers also indicated they would consider paying for theatrical movies (45 per cent) and games (44 per cent).
When it came to news content online – perhaps the most hotly debated of any of the paid-for content model discussions, just ten per cent of Indian consumers said they had previously paid for internet-only news, and 12 per cent had paid for newspaper content online in the past. Asked whether they would consider paying for online newspapers or internet-only news sources in the future, nearly half said they would not (both 49 per cent).
Conversely, a majority of consumers in India are not prepared to pay for consumer-generated-content such as blogs (70 per cent), social communities (61 per cent), and consumer generated video (60 per cent), although interestingly Asia Pacific consumers are more willing to pay for consumer-generated video than any other region. Radio and podcasts also fared poorly in the study with 66 per cent Indians not willing to pay for news/talk radio and 60 per cent not willing to shell out for podcasts. 58 per cent Indians will also not consider paying for music on the radio.
The Nielsen survey highlights a growing acceptance amongst Indian consumers for the need for some form of paid-for content models – nearly half the Indian consumers (48 per cent) concede that quality of content on the internet will decline unless companies can charge for it.
More than six out of ten (66 per cent) Indians will also accept more advertising on the internet in the future to support the cost of content. However, consumers drew the line at combining online advertising with paid-for content, with more than half the consumers (54 per cent) saying that there should be no advertising on the internet content that they have paid for.
Interestingly, nearly eight in ten (78 per cent) Indians feel that their existing off-line subscriptions to services such as newspapers, magazines, radio or television should extend to the online medium. A majority of Indians (60 per cent) also believe that content on the internet should be supported by a combination of advertising and content fees.
Said Nagarajan, “Consumers have a much higher propensity to pay for content which they know has been professionally produced such as music, movies, games, but are reluctant to pay for online content that has been generated by fellow consumers, such as blogs, etc. Considering the fragmented attitude of consumers to pay for online content, the content providers will have to offer multiple options to entice the choosy consumers.”
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Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
