More Newspapers Coming Around To Recognizing That Online Visitors Are Good
from the slowly-but-surely dept
A few weeks ago we pointed out that the Houston Chronicle had come to the bright conclusion (after years of folks saying it to them over and over again) that online registration was a net negative. It pissed off their users and drove them away. For those who did register, they often gave bogus information or used BugMeNot -- which completely dilutes the purpose of having a registration system (to use the demographics to sell premium advertising). One by one, it seems other papers are figuring it out as well. The latest is the Toronto Star which is ditching their mandatory online registration system, admitting that having traffic is a good thing: "We believe that in order to be competitive in the online news and information space, growth of both audience and page impressions will be the cornerstone of our success." It's almost scary that it's taken newspapers this long to recognize this simple fact.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
no logins
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
i agree
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Mandatory Not Needed, Sample
Sampling for registration will give a very accurate picture of the audience. Then the site gets the info it needs and the vast majority of users get a pleasant experience.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Top News Story: Your Local Paper Is Doomed
But altho advertisers will pay for eyeballs, they will pay more for eyeballs which click on ads. The local newspaper is hamstrung in two ways then, because the local news is neither compelling nor juicy enough to bring the clicking eyeballs. The local/regional newspaper, as an online concept, is not only merely dead, it's really most sincerely dead.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]