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Sorry for off topic but why does every news site mobile layout wants me to click read more/continue reading? Now techcrunch too. I tried to Google the question

Sorry for off topic but why does every news site mobile layout wants me to click read more/continue reading? Now techcrunch too. I tried to Google the question but didn't get an answer.. Who and why invented this trend? Is it to measure engagement? Surely there are better ways.. Most of the sites don't lazy load the hidden content, so there's no bandwidth benefit either...

martinald 11y ago
Also interested to know. Surely just seeing every so often where the content is scrolled too is much better than this?!
- Lord_Cheese 11y ago
  Probably related to ad revenue across the various sites.
dworin 11y ago
This is just a hypothesis, but maybe for viewability for ads? There's a big controversy among advertisers/publishers over the difference between "was my ad shown" and "was my ad seen." Clicking Read More at least says you're going to look a little down the page. Some evidence for it is that right below the "Read More" button, there's usually an annoying little ad square.
des429 11y ago
Could be a performance/turnover-rate thing. If they only have to send a small bite of the article in the beginning, it means a smaller response body, which means the page will load faster. You are less likely to close the page in frustration as it continues to load.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- TeMPOraL 11y ago
  I don't think this is the reason. The amount of text that is contained in the article is usually smaller than the shit ton of superfluous JS and images they're sending. If they're looking to optimize page load, there are lower-hanging fruits.
hlmencken 11y ago
Maybe you could just get bored within the article and they want to show you more content before you leave the page. if you actually want to finish the article a simple button press isn't trememndous. just keep your interest and show you alternatives early.
callalex 11y ago
Because it breaks most mobilizers/"reading mode" browser plugins which means they can show you more ads.
- wodenokoto 11y ago
  On a lot of pages it actually doesn't.
msravi 11y ago
Hmm... I have uMatrix installed and it just loads the whole page.
jinst8gmi 11y ago
CNN has it too, it's annoying.

martinald 11y ago

Also interested to know. Surely just seeing every so often where the content is scrolled too is much better than this?!

Lord_Cheese 11y ago
Probably related to ad revenue across the various sites.

dworin 11y ago

This is just a hypothesis, but maybe for viewability for ads? There's a big controversy among advertisers/publishers over the difference between "was my ad shown" and "was my ad seen." Clicking Read More at least says you're going to look a little down the page. Some evidence for it is that right below the "Read More" button, there's usually an annoying little ad square.

des429 11y ago

Could be a performance/turnover-rate thing. If they only have to send a small bite of the article in the beginning, it means a smaller response body, which means the page will load faster. You are less likely to close the page in frustration as it continues to load.

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
TeMPOraL 11y ago
I don't think this is the reason. The amount of text that is contained in the article is usually smaller than the shit ton of superfluous JS and images they're sending. If they're looking to optimize page load, there are lower-hanging fruits.

hlmencken 11y ago

Maybe you could just get bored within the article and they want to show you more content before you leave the page. if you actually want to finish the article a simple button press isn't trememndous. just keep your interest and show you alternatives early.

callalex 11y ago

Because it breaks most mobilizers/"reading mode" browser plugins which means they can show you more ads.

wodenokoto 11y ago
On a lot of pages it actually doesn't.

msravi 11y ago

Hmm... I have uMatrix installed and it just loads the whole page.

jinst8gmi 11y ago

CNN has it too, it's annoying.