UK web users unwilling to pay for online news: KPMG

The majority of British web users are unwilling to pay for online content, such as online news , according to KPMG's annual 'Consumers and Convergence' global survey.

The new study found that 81 per cent of UK web users were not willing to pay for online content and would rather find another source of free content if an often accessed website started to charge for content.

The 81 per cent figure from the UK is much higher than compared with 57 per cent of global web users not willing to pay for online content.

According to KPMG's figures, 81 per cent of the UK public would be unwilling to pay for content that was previously free, compared with 43 per cent for the rest of the world and 59 per cent in the Asia-Pacific region.

"UK consumers still haven't come around to the idea of paying for digital content and are clear that they will move to other site if paywalls are put up," said Tudor Aw, head of technology at KPMG Europe.

While these results are a damper for online news website that charge for content, it will be music for the ears for videos, music and games creators, as users are willing to pay for these popular sites.