WSJ ends Google users' free ride, then falls 44% in search results

["Dave Farber" <farber () gmail com>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
> Date: June 14, 2017 at 12:53:38 PM EDT
> To: nnsquad () nnsquad org
> Subject: [ NNSquad ] WSJ ends Google users' free ride, then falls 44% in search results
>
>
> WSJ ends Google users' free ride, then falls 44% in search results
>
> http://www.columbian.com/news/2017/jun/11/wsj-ends-google-users-free-ride-then-falls-44-in-search-results/
>
>      After blocking Google users from reading free articles in
>    February, the Wall Street Journal's subscription business
>    soared, with a fourfold increase in the rate of visitors
>    converting into paying customers. But there was a trade-off:
>    Traffic from Google plummeted 44 percent.  The reason: Google
>    search results are based on an algorithm that scans the
>    internet for free content. After the Journal's free articles
>    went behind a paywall, Google's bot only saw the first few
>    paragraphs and started ranking them lower, limiting the
>    Journal's viewership.  Executives at the Journal, owned by
>    Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., argue that Google's policy is
>    unfairly punishing them for trying to attract more digital
>    subscribers. They want Google to treat their articles equally
>    in search rankings, despite being behind a paywall.
>
> - - -
>
> The ranking change is exactly what should have happened. A paywalled
> article is less useful to the average Google search user than a free
> article, so it's completely reasonable that this differential is
> reflected in search results rankings. Sorry, WSJ, I'm playing the
> world's tiniest violin for you.
>
> --Lauren--
> Lauren 



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