4 ms·

I wish Google would penalize websites with pay walls

by eumenides1 10y ago

Scirra_Tom 10y ago
I was under the impression they would (hidden content/different content for Googlebot).
- ocdtrekkie 10y ago
  Most paywalls which offer the Googlebot the full site also offer the full site if you follow a Google search result to the article. So while you're correct that providing the Googlebot and people coming from Google Search different results is prohibited, most paywall sites just don't show the paywall for either.
  - funnyfacts365 10y ago
    Why does it matter where you come from? Content cloaking is content cloaking, referrers shouldn't matter.
    - pyrophane 10y ago
      Google cares that if you click a link in a Google search result that the content you see is the same as what they crawl, so paywalled sites give Google search traffic a pass because they don't want to be penalized by Google. Of course, I agree with you in principle.
  - tyingq 10y ago
    Some only give you 2 or 3 article views then cut you off. But, of course, they still appear in search results.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
ocdtrekkie 10y ago
Pay walls will probably inevitably be the only way quality content gets generated, given the increasing prevalence of ad blockers. As the return on investment for online advertising wanes, there's a good chance you'll see more of this, not less. Furthermore, most paywalled sites seem to deliver a non-paywall version to Google servers and when coming from Google search explicitly to avoid this happening.
- ashark 10y ago
  Most of the best content on the Internet was created by volunteers, for free, in my experience. The rise of ad-funded content has done more harm than good, overall.
  - Alupis 10y ago
    > Most of the best content on the Internet was created by volunteers, for free What content is that? It costs money to host/serve that content at the very minimum. If it's videos like youtube, etc.. .the content creators absolutely get paid. Most people's blogs have ads to help offset hosting costs. There might be a few select examples - but in general, somebody's got to pay the bills.
    - Retra 10y ago
      How many HN posters do you think are paid to comment here?
      - Alupis 10y ago
        > How many HN posters do you think are paid to comment here? How many articles that HN posters discuss were written for free, have no ads on the site/blog, nor are behind a paywall, nor have some ulterior motive for the content (recognition, advertising/promotion, etc)?
  - ocdtrekkie 10y ago
    I don't disagree, but a lot of content we enjoy costs more money to produce and host than volunteers can afford. Especially high bandwidth content like video.
tyingq 10y ago
A paywall is a pop up ad, and worse than most, in that you can't dismiss it. Google would argue that visitors coming via search aren't paywalled, but often that isn't true. Some give you 3 free views, for example, then cut you off. To me, if you want a paywall, that's fine...But then your content shouldn't show up on search engines, or perhaps if it does, it should be clearly marked as such.
- st3v3r 10y ago
  Why shouldn't people be able to get paid for their work? No one is forcing you to pay them; it's just the same as anything else has been: If you want the product of someone's labor, you pay them what they ask for.
  - tyingq 10y ago
    They can get paid. It's just whether they should enjoy free traffic from a search engine when their content isn't free. At the very least, if there's a possibility I'm hitting a paywall, the search engine should put a [paid content] label on the search result.
  - CaptSpify 10y ago
    Where did anyone say that they can't get paid for their work?
    - st3v3r 10y ago
      The guy who said that he wants paywalled sites punished for trying to get paid for their work.
      - CaptSpify 10y ago
        Nobody said that. OP said that he wishes google would penalize sites with paywalls, but that has nothing to do with sites getting paid for their work. There are many ways to get paid for your work without using a bait-and-switch method where you show google a different page than the one you are showing to your users.

I wish Google would penalize websites with pay walls

Scirra_Tom 10y ago

I was under the impression they would (hidden content/different content for Googlebot).

ocdtrekkie 10y ago
Most paywalls which offer the Googlebot the full site also offer the full site if you follow a Google search result to the article. So while you're correct that providing the Googlebot and people coming from Google Search different results is prohibited, most paywall sites just don't show the paywall for either.
- funnyfacts365 10y ago
  Why does it matter where you come from? Content cloaking is content cloaking, referrers shouldn't matter.
  - pyrophane 10y ago
    Google cares that if you click a link in a Google search result that the content you see is the same as what they crawl, so paywalled sites give Google search traffic a pass because they don't want to be penalized by Google. Of course, I agree with you in principle.
- tyingq 10y ago
  Some only give you 2 or 3 article views then cut you off. But, of course, they still appear in search results.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

ocdtrekkie 10y ago

Pay walls will probably inevitably be the only way quality content gets generated, given the increasing prevalence of ad blockers. As the return on investment for online advertising wanes, there's a good chance you'll see more of this, not less. Furthermore, most paywalled sites seem to deliver a non-paywall version to Google servers and when coming from Google search explicitly to avoid this happening.

ashark 10y ago
Most of the best content on the Internet was created by volunteers, for free, in my experience. The rise of ad-funded content has done more harm than good, overall.
- Alupis 10y ago
  > Most of the best content on the Internet was created by volunteers, for free What content is that? It costs money to host/serve that content at the very minimum. If it's videos like youtube, etc.. .the content creators absolutely get paid. Most people's blogs have ads to help offset hosting costs. There might be a few select examples - but in general, somebody's got to pay the bills.
  - Retra 10y ago
    How many HN posters do you think are paid to comment here?
    - Alupis 10y ago
      > How many HN posters do you think are paid to comment here? How many articles that HN posters discuss were written for free, have no ads on the site/blog, nor are behind a paywall, nor have some ulterior motive for the content (recognition, advertising/promotion, etc)?
- ocdtrekkie 10y ago
  I don't disagree, but a lot of content we enjoy costs more money to produce and host than volunteers can afford. Especially high bandwidth content like video.

tyingq 10y ago

A paywall is a pop up ad, and worse than most, in that you can't dismiss it. Google would argue that visitors coming via search aren't paywalled, but often that isn't true. Some give you 3 free views, for example, then cut you off. To me, if you want a paywall, that's fine...But then your content shouldn't show up on search engines, or perhaps if it does, it should be clearly marked as such.

st3v3r 10y ago
Why shouldn't people be able to get paid for their work? No one is forcing you to pay them; it's just the same as anything else has been: If you want the product of someone's labor, you pay them what they ask for.
- tyingq 10y ago
  They can get paid. It's just whether they should enjoy free traffic from a search engine when their content isn't free. At the very least, if there's a possibility I'm hitting a paywall, the search engine should put a [paid content] label on the search result.
- CaptSpify 10y ago
  Where did anyone say that they can't get paid for their work?
  - st3v3r 10y ago
    The guy who said that he wants paywalled sites punished for trying to get paid for their work.
    - CaptSpify 10y ago
      Nobody said that. OP said that he wishes google would penalize sites with paywalls, but that has nothing to do with sites getting paid for their work. There are many ways to get paid for your work without using a bait-and-switch method where you show google a different page than the one you are showing to your users.