Why most news paywalls are · A paywall is piece of software that breaks your website, allowing you...

Why most news paywalls are full of holes

Ariel StulbergNYPA 2019

The “golden age of paywalls”

The “golden age of paywalls”

-The Drum, May 2018

-WSJ, Nov 2017

- NYMag, Nov 2018

-Digiday, April 2018

The “golden age of paywalls”

Are paywalls “the answer?”

I will argue:

-Paywalls work best under atypical circumstances

-Paywalls require service sacrifices

-Free news isn’t going away

What to expect:

--Paywall theory

--History and taxonomy of paywalls

--Our paywall moment

What is a paywall?

=?

What is a paywall?

Sub - scribe

(Under) (write)

Partly true

--Reliable revenue

--Direct relationship to readers

--Freedom from the traffic gods

What is a paywall?

Newspaper

What is a paywall?

Digital content

What is a paywall?

What is a paywall?

--Digital rights management (DRM)

A paywall is piece of software that breaks your website, allowing you to charge users to make it work again

The problem with paywalls

--Annoying!

The problem with paywalls

--Annoying!

--Reduce readership

The problem with paywalls

--Annoying!

--Reduce readership

--Contravene service mission

The problem with paywalls

“Why drop a paywall?” Ananny and Bighash, USC, 2016

--Emergencies

--Planned public events (e.g. elections, the Olympia)

--”Coverage considered too civically valuable to commodify financially”

History of paywalls

--Launched 1996

--Paying customers only

--The “hard” model

History of paywalls

--Annoying?

--Reduce readership?

--Contravene service mission?

NO PROBLEM

History of paywalls

The “hard” model

--Expert readers...

--in well-compensated fields

History of paywalls

-May 2009, TheGuardian.com

History of paywalls

--Launched 2011l

--20 free articles

--Unlimited “side door” exceptions

--”Soft” / “leaky” “porous” mode

History of paywalls

--Annoying?

--Reduce readership

--Contravene editorial mission?

Let’s keep it to a minimum

History of paywalls

The meter

History of paywallsPaywall exceptions, aka “side doors”

--Social media

--Search (i.e. First Click Free)

--”Cookie” manipulation

History of paywalls

“It’s a misconception that we’ve imposed an absolute limit and any time anyone gets around that limit it’s a violation of policy,”

--Kinsey Wilson, NYT

History of paywalls

The “soft” / “leaky” / “porous” model

--Annoy fewer people

--Turn fewer people away

--Collect data

--Monetize goodwill

History of paywalls

“I think there are similarities [to public media]. A subscription to The New York Times is rarely a purely transactional decision.”

--Kinsey Wilson, NYT

“Do we play on the ‘Give us a donation’ stuff? No.”

--Karl Wells, WSJ

Our paywall moment

What changed?

--Reliable online payments

--Wider adoption of web subscriptions

Our paywall moment

--The “Trump Bump”

--”Support journalism”

Our paywall moment

The “dynamic” paywall

--Data driven

--Annoy the right people

Our paywall moment

Paywall aggregators

--Apple News+

--Medium

Our paywall moment

The “membership” model

--No paywall

--Appeal to goodwill

--Advertising optional

Are paywalls “the answer?”

-Paywalls work best under atypical circumstances

-Paywalls contravene service missions

-”Free” news isn’t going away

Thank you for coming!

Comments or questions?