why most news paywalls are · a paywall is piece of software that breaks your website, allowing you...
TRANSCRIPT
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?