Let’s take a look at the facts from the internet industry in Indonesia: most online companies get money from advertising because there are not many easy methods that allow users to pay items digitally in Indonesia. From this fact, it seems that most potential business in Indonesia is online content business/news portal business.
Another fact states that the content/portal business is one left behind in Indonesia. Not many small-and medium-sized players are entering the market as it’s actually dominated by big players such as Detik, Kompas, PlasaMSN, Okezone and others who take all verticals in their news portal. Of course news content doesn’t mean news-text only but it also includes video, audio or media such as smartphones, tablets and smart TV (other than a laptop/computer) that can be accessed directly by visitors.
Me and Budi Putra (ex Tempo, Yahoo! Country Editor) have agreed that not many players in the digital content business in Indonesia despite the fact that many investors are interested and the market is available. Some consumer brand representatives also expressed concern about their limited choice to advertise because the gap between first tier level content company and second-tier level content company is very much different (in terms of traffic and revenue).
We may compare between first-tier content companies such as Detik, Kompas, PlasaMSN with content companies such as DailySocial, MalesBanget or the newly launched, NyuNyu. There’s a huge difference and the niche content (that is taken) is very specific. Of course, we must differentiate with those sites that provide stolen content and put AdSense in all parts of the website.
It seems to be the next Detik or the nextKompas isn’t an attractive for digital entrepreneurs in Indonesia even though the demand is there. I also dare to say that there are many investors who are willing to enter into the digital content niche like this, however it’s not many of them that are willing to take risk to go in.
Do you think that there is still room for new players in the digital content industry in Indonesia? Please submit your thoughts through the comments field.