Behind the Orange Paywall at the Register

[gravehunter]

Owner of the OC Register lays out the plan and reasons to paper's subscribers:

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/free-502166-digital-register.html

 

[slappy4428]

Not even a five-article tickle...

 

[IHateSpringSports2013]

Not even a five-article tickle...

I think it's probably a better strategy to do 5-10 articles per month free...obviously people should have to pay for EVERYTHING because it costs a lot of money to pay people (I mean, pay people the same money to write for online and print, thus doubling their work with no raise), but I really think that 5-10 article per month free is needed, just for realistic point of view.

 

[Riptide]

We understand that our approach is a bit unconventional, and that some people may be annoyed at having to pay for something they were accustomed to getting for free. Our loyalty is to our subscribers.

I like how they don't mince words there.

 

[Versatile]

Not even a five-article tickle...

I think it's probably a better strategy to do 5-10 articles per month free...obviously people should have to pay for EVERYTHING because it costs a lot of money to pay people (I mean, pay people the same money to write for online and print, thus doubling their work with no raise), but I really think that 5-10 article per month free is needed, just for realistic point of view.

Every limited paywall I've ever seen can be averted easily, hell, almost accidentally, often by something as simple as clearing cookies.

Good for the Register. I worry it won't work with the Los Angeles Times still semi-free.

 

[da man]

Not even a five-article tickle...

I think it's probably a better strategy to do 5-10 articles per month free...obviously people should have to pay for EVERYTHING because it costs a lot of money to pay people (I mean, pay people the same money to write for online and print, thus doubling their work with no raise), but I really think that 5-10 article per month free is needed, just for realistic point of view.

Every limited paywall I've ever seen can be averted easily, hell, almost accidentally, often by something as simple as clearing cookies.

Good for the Register. I worry it won't work with the Los Angeles Times still free.

Agreed. I wonder how much different the industry would look now if everyone had done this 20 years ago (or whenever it was this newfangled interwebs thing first started taking off).

 

[SnarkShark]

The San Francisco Chronicle also installed a paywall recently.

It may work, I guess, but it's about 10 years too late for this. If this would have been the standard on internet news from the beginning, instead of giving content away online for free, we might be looking at a considerably different climate at newspapers.

As usual, too little, too late.

 

[MileHigh]

Not even a five-article tickle...

I think it's probably a better strategy to do 5-10 articles per month free...obviously people should have to pay for EVERYTHING because it costs a lot of money to pay people (I mean, pay people the same money to write for online and print, thus doubling their work with no raise), but I really think that 5-10 article per month free is needed, just for realistic point of view.

Every limited paywall I've ever seen can be averted easily, hell, almost accidentally, often by something as simple as clearing cookies.

Good for the Register. I worry it won't work with the Los Angeles Times still free.

The Times has a paywall, after, I believe, a limited number of stories per month.

 

[Versatile]

Huh. Good to know. I must at least open 10 or more Times stories a month, and I've never hit it.

 

[Riptide]

The San Francisco Chronicle also installed a paywall recently.

It may work, I guess, but it's about 10 years too late for this. If this would have been the standard on internet news from the beginning, instead of giving content away online for free, we might be looking at a considerably different climate at newspapers.

As usual, too little, too late.

The marketplace also changes and adapts. The climate can still evolve, although it is taking more time and effort because of the mistakes made 15 years ago.

Will paywalls succeed or fail? Still too soon to tell.
Maybe everyone will charge in the end. Welcome to cable Internet.