The way that the British read news online appears likely to change greatly over the coming years. As The Times and The Sunday Times prepare to charge readers for the online editions of their newspapers, the titles point to growing evidence that Britain is more willing to spend money online than almost any other nation.

It is argued that, with news sites now accounting for 3 per cent of the time that we spend online, charging for content represents a natural step for the press and publishing industry.

Nearly 16 million people in Britain visited a mainstream newspaper website in February. Figures from the market researchers UKOM/Nielsen show that a quarter of those users have already paid to access news online or would be willing to do so. A third even said that they would be willing to pay for web content that they had already paid for offline, if it was substantially better than what was on offer free. The Times.

When Murdoch starts charging I won’t be visiting anymore and the withdrawal of News International from public ABCe audits shows Murdoch believes I’ll be one of many – how long before advertisers wake up to reduced Internet traffic? This will only work if others follow suit – which at the moment looks unlikely – I suspect competitors are looking forward to an increase in traffic and advertiser revenues.