NY Times Confident of 'First Click Free' Paywalls

eldavojohn writes "One thing you might notice on Slashdot is that when someone submits a story linking to nytimes.com, it doesn't always work. While it's not truly a paywall, it appears to stop the user and require registration... sometimes. If you noticed this and it's seems to be non-deterministic in when and where it asks you to login, you're simply noticing the latest strategy of 'first click free' being employed. We've heard that normal paywalls are a miserable failure (the Wall Street Journal's, one of the more successful, only lets you see the first paragraph online). Will the drug pusher approach work out for The New York Times? The CEO seems to be certain that this blogger (and Slashdot) friendly paywall is the correct option and will keep The New York Times as a 'part of the conversation' online when news is rapidly circulating." I will tell you that if I am asked for a password, I almost always reject the story immediately, or go find a better URL. Heck, yesterday I rejected a NY Times story for this exact reason. So we'll see how it pans out.

Comments

Pay For The Internet?

[WrongSizeGlass]

What, people want us to pay to access some stuff on the internet? What's next, /. offering subscriptions?

Re:Porn mode

[CarpetShark]

"Porn mode" protects you from your wife, not from the internet. Or your boss.

I dissent

[pickens]

There are stories, generally op-eds, "think pieces," and commissioned pieces with original research that appear on the NY Times and no where else.

As an example, I submitted a story yesterday about Isaac Newton on new historical research that explains why he spent thirty years of his life working on alchemy.

That story is only on the Times and no where else.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/12/science/12newton.html

Take a look at my submission. I think it's a good story and based on my experience, one that slashdot normally would have accepted.

http://slashdot.org/submission/1354636/Isaac-Newton-Alchemist

Show me where you can find that story anyplace else on the web.

Re:If You Want an Example

[Captain Spam]

I submitted a story a few days ago. Click the link once, then close the page. Then click the link again. You should get a paywall.

Hi. Look at my submission. Now click the link. Now back to the submission. Now BACK to the link. Sadly, you should get a paywall. But if your link didn't go to a corporate dinosaur's website, it wouldn't smell like a paywall. Scroll up. Now back down. Where are you? You're on Slashdot. What's in your hand? Back up to me. I have it. It's a mouse, clicking on those links you like to see. Now look at me. The mouse is now diamonds. Anything is possible when you use the power of the world wide web to freely distribute information regardless of payment or network. I'm on a computer.