Comments on: Impact of paywall on NYTimes.com

By: Kostenlos

Kostenlos — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 09:09:01 +0000

This analysis doesn’t reveal the full picture as during the first 12 days after the paywall went up most people were able to use their 20 free views. The next 12 days will be more interesting.

By: P

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 00:52:01 +0000

I was confused when I clicked links from facebook to articles and it counted in my 20 articles. I just get my news from other sources now since I have one free article left. I imagine the second half of the month will be much harder on the website.

By: daily reader

daily reader — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 15:01:23 +0000

I’m bummed that I didn’t see that offer from Lincoln!
I visit the site daily and now I’m so careful about what articles I choose to read. It’s the 13th and I only have 5 articles left. I used to visit each section and read at least 1 article from each section. Not to mention the real estate section, LOVE the pictures.
I don’t like this paywall thing at all! I find myself visiting other news sites to try and fill my news needs.

By: SGirard

SGirard — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 09:22:46 +0000

The 12 days before the launch were atypical. It would have been better to compare to the same time last year or at least to an average week. Hard to conclude anything.

By: Ed Feldman

Ed Feldman — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 08:09:46 +0000

Good -bye, NYT. I will not pay for electrons twice.

By: Pat

Pat — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 03:41:11 +0000

Oh for heaven’s sake. Just delete browsing data – the browser should be set to do this anyway, no cache and set cookies and history to delete automatically on exit. The rudiments of safe surfing.
I have had no problem reading it as much as ever, which is a lot and I have not disabled java script nor do I get to an article via a link.
What concerns me most is the decision of the NYT’s to address the rich and leave everyone else behind.

By: Kelly's Digital Days

Kelly's Digital Days — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 03:02:39 +0000

Could Decreased Visits be a Good Result for NYTimes.com?

what I wonder next is how to decide whether your content is a candidate for a paywall….

By: Rebekah

Rebekah — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 22:22:49 +0000

I have to agree with AnnFS. After stopping, I didn’t find the NYT content unique enough for me to buy a subscription or bother looking for sneaky ways to access. I just pick up news and opinions elsewhere now. Maybe I wouldn’t mind paying for NYT, but even subscribing is too much of a hassle. I’m a lazy news junkie.

By: Mr Peanut

Mr Peanut — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 18:56:56 +0000

Don’t know if this is true for others, but regarding my own habits I’ve noticed that now when I see link to a NY Times story I’ll ask myself “hmmm, is this really worth using up one of my 20 articles?” and then I’ll often pass.

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 18:21:09 +0000

I was an avid online reader of the NYTimes, but since the paywall, I have been breaking myself of the habit. The original thought was to save my 20 times to last the month, but I can get my news elsewhere. I miss their perspective though, and their opinion pieces.

By: AnnFS

AnnFS — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 17:19:02 +0000

If I’m interpreting the FAQ correctly, access through Google etc. does “count”, but one can continue to access through Google after the wall has been reached. So, some readers may be running out their direct access before switching to Google.
From my experience, the NYT would do better to have some articles marked as “free” … to maintain traffic to the site. I’m not finding as difficult a habit to break as I expected.

By: Josh

Josh — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 16:51:25 +0000

They gave out 280k free subscriptions to the people that viewed NYT the most. Wonder how the graphs would look without those people(myself included)

By: Tom Jolly

Tom Jolly — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 15:37:04 +0000

While it’s not surprising that traffic would go down when the NYT’s metered model was put in place, this report would have more context if it compared traffic at “control group” sites, like the Washington Post or the Huffington Post, during the same period. After all, traffic ebbs and flows according to the news and it would add to our understanding if we knew whether other sites maintained steady traffic over this time.

By: jacqueline Tellalian

jacqueline Tellalian — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 14:26:43 +0000

yep, same here with the Lincoln-sponsored freebie for the rest of the year. I grabbed it, as did my neighbor who also got the offer. I wonder what’ll happen first of the year though…

By: Keith Kreisher

Keith Kreisher — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 13:01:20 +0000

Won’t the effects of the paywall drastically increase as the month rolls on, i.e., as we get further into the calendar month, and more regular readers reach the 20-article limit? Would love to hear someone in the know address this…

By: ajt

ajt — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 12:57:29 +0000

Did you consider comparing traffic at nytimes.com against traffic at other news Web sites? I ask because it’s my impression that news was considerably more urgent in the two weeks before the paywall went up than in the two weeks after and I wonder if that means traffic at other news sites declined slightly. As you note, news like the budget story pushes traffic and so it would be interesting to have a basis for comparison beyond just the nytimes.com traffic.

By: ilene miner

ilene miner — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 10:35:15 +0000

please remember that the NYT had an advertiser, I think Lincoln, that gave access free to readers till the end of 2011. I took advantage of that and still have access. Look for further drop when that expires

By: Victor Acquah

Victor Acquah — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 08:29:56 +0000

I will be interested in seeing the numbers for the share of upstream traffic from both search and social networks a month or two out from the launch date.
I think the current study observed no change because people have’t generally run into the 20 article limitation yet, so there is no need to use other sources to get in. My own 20 article limit just run out today – April 12.

By: relentlessfocus

relentlessfocus — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 06:30:34 +0000

This analysis doesn’t reveal the full picture as during the first 12 days after the paywall went up most people were able to use their 20 free views. The next 12 days will be more interesting.

By: Wir sprechen Online.

Wir sprechen Online. — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 03:07:05 +0000

NYT Paywall Impact

Hitwise: The NYT paywall impact is strong. Visits -5% to -15%, page views -11% to -30%; http://eicker.at/NYTPaywallImpact…