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Going off on a bit of a tangent for a second... I didn't realize that Ars had started charging if you wanted to view/print an entire article instead of viewing
by ajg1977 16y ago
Going off on a bit of a tangent for a second... I didn't realize that Ars had started charging if you wanted to view/print an entire article instead of viewing it one page at a time. It's a good example of one of the worst ways to monetize a product. I don't feel like I'm being offered a premium product or extra content, I feel like I'm being artificially penalized because I'm not handing over $5 a month.
Better ways to encourage subscribers?
Give non-subscribers access to a deep, but not in-depth, review. Perhaps 5-6 pages instead of 10.
Offer additional content related to the article. Thoughts from other staff writers, head-to-head section with competing products, more examples photos/videos taken of the device.
Include a 2-3 minute "video review" where I can see the device demonstrated in close up HD video.
None of these ideas are particularly groundbreaking, but you feel like you're GETTING something, instead of not losing something basic that used to be standard practice.
- mikeknoop 16y agoHmm, but from a monetization point of view it makes sense why they would trade off page (read: ad) views versus users paying.
- jacobolus 16y agoThey've been doing subscriptions for more than 1 page at a time for at least 6–7 years, and it’s been working out okay. Do you have a reason beyond the anecdotal that makes you think it’s one of the worst ways to monetize? FWIW, I think giving everyone access to the full content but a page at a time while letting subscribers see a nicely formatted PDF is a perfectly reasonable perk. Cutting the reviews in half and only letting non-subscribers see the first half seems like a terrible idea to me.
- necrecious 16y agoI've argued that the best way to monetize something is about having features that saves people time. So Ars is completely correct in their approach. I am also using the same idea for my startup. So that's two anecdotal evidence that it is the best way to monetize.
- Synaesthesia 16y agoI must say, Safari 5's "reader" feature is great for articles like that.
- daskrachen 16y agoI completely disagree. How would a website that doesn't offer its content for free ever find an audience in the first place? What you propose would limit their non-paying audience to abridged crap-versions of heir articles. That would be a tough penalty for not paying. In contrast to that, Ars is not offering premium content but the same content (without ads) on the website, as PDF or as RSS feed. This is a real bonus but no one is losing anything if he is not subscribing.