Against conventional wisdom, Giesen's DrDrew.com, a site offering sex-education advice to the MTV generation, will unveil a pay-for-content spinoff next month, ignoring the well-documented financial troubles associated with such a business move.

"We know that the culture of the web is free, but this is something we researched and I'm confident this is a positive move for our company," Giesen, the site's co-founder and CEO told atNewYork.

DrDrew.com, based in Pasadena, California, is setting up shop in the Alley and the test phase of the pay-for-information rollout will be launched by mid-September, Giesen said.

"The perceived value for the information we offer on our site is remarkable. Dr Drew has his fans and they told us they are willing to pay for the information," he said, referring to Dr. Drew Pinsky, the sex-information sage whose "Loveline" radio and TV shows have developed a cult following on MTV and radio shows around the country.

"We did a survey and asked our audience a few questions about whether they would pay for the information we offer and the results were staggering," Giesen said, noting that half of the respondents were willing to pay a yearly subscription fee for personalized sex health information. "Our survey results were very clear so its full steam ahead," he added.

DrDrew.com makes money from advertisements and Giesen said the paid subscription service will be not replace the editorial offering on the site.

"Dr Drew has a following of his own. He is appealing and his fans trust him. They said they are willing to pay for personalized education and referral and we are going to take the plunge and offer such a service," said Giesen, an Amherst college colleague of Dr Pinsky.

He was unsure about the eventual pricing of the subscription service but hinted it could be between $25 and $50 per year. "We are going to research the pricing and market it to the parents," he added.

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"If we are smart about the way we market this, I think we've got a good shot at cracking the code. The potential here is pretty enormous," he declared, noting the annual subscription will work out cheaper than the price of a single visit to a doctor's office.

DrDrew.com was funded originally by Garage.com, a Palo Alto incubator. Softbank led a second round of funding to the tune of $8 million. The company has a 30 person staff.