The New York Times announced last week it would start charging for web usage over an undisclosed level. You won't hear this from many quarters but this is a smart move. Monetizing content via standard web advertising models just doesn't work for publications. 

Full story here.

Excerpt:

Media Decoder: Dialing in a Plan: The Times Installs a Meter on Its Future

Starting in January 2011, a visitor to NYTimes.com will be allowed to view a certain number of articles free each month; to read more, the reader must pay a flat fee for unlimited access. Subscribers to the print newspaper, even those who subscribe only to the Sunday paper, will receive full access to the site without any additional charge.

Executives of The New York Times Company said they wanted to create a system that would have little effect on the millions of occasional visitors to the site, while trying to cash in on the loyalty of more devoted readers. But fundamental features of the plan have not yet been decided, including how much the paper will charge for online subscriptions or how many articles a reader will be allowed to see without paying.