Cutting out paid subscriptions worked

EricaCNPA · Number of posts: 142 Age: 28 Registration date: 2007-06-13

Quote:

Ever since the NYTimes.com swept away the last remaining boulders of its subscription pay wall (aka Times Select) in mid-September, its traffic has been going through the roof. According to comScore, it gained 7.5 million readers worldwide from the end of August through the end of October (November numbers are not out yet). That is a 64 percent jump (to a total of 19.4 million). Similarly worldwide monthly pageviews surged 52 percent in that time period to 181 million. Other major news outlets like BusinessWeek.com (4.4 million readers in October), the WSJ.com (3.6 million, with a subscriber wall), and Wired.com (3.2 million) saw gains as well during the Fall, but nothing as dramatic as the NYTimes.com.

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Erica Jolley-Meers
Digital Media Coordinator
CNPA

Lacey · Number of posts: 9 Age: 25 Registration date: 2007-08-29

Woohoo! Those numbers are exciting.

I realize a key factor in trying to make sense of page views is having the more reliable stats you get from requiring users to register... but I've given up on reading so many Bee stories because I'm too lazy (and annoyed) to register. I hope in the long run it is more profitable to give free unfettered access to content!