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Ask HN: How Does the NY Times Paywall Work?

23 points by mtgentry 4y ago

How does it work technically? Do they track your IP and machine specs? I’ve noticed sometimes if you hit the paywall and then try a different browser the paywall is still there.

WallyFunk 4y ago
Not sure how it works, but most of the time with these things you get a limit of three articles per unique session / IP then they prompt you to buy premium. I regularly switch IPs with a VPN and browse with different useragents in a private/incognito session, also with Javascript disabled. This works remarkably well. For those times it doesn't work, I check if it's on Archive.today[0] [0] https://archive.ph/ https://archive.ph/
- kuba___ 4y ago
  there is a browser add-on that can bypass paywalls ;) (including NYT paywall)
  - thescribbblr 4y ago
    Which one?
    - mokarma 4y ago
      There's some Javascript you can run in the browser console to read articles normally: ``` (function readArticles(){ if(document.querySelector('#gateway-content')){ document.querySelector('#gateway-content').style.display = "none"; } if(document.querySelector('#app div div')){ document.querySelector('#app div div').style.overflowY = "scroll"; } if(document.querySelector('#app div div')){ document.querySelector('#app div div').lastElementChild.style.display = "none"; } if(document.querySelector('.css-mcm29f')){ document.querySelector('.css-mcm29f').style.overflowY = "scroll"; document.querySelector('.css-mcm29f').lastElementChild.style.display="none"; } if(document.querySelector('#site-content')){ document.querySelector('#site-content').style.position = "relative"; } })() ```
    - ceasesurthinko 4y ago
      https://gitlab.com/magnolia1234/bypass-paywalls-chrome-clean https://gitlab.com/magnolia1234/bypass-paywalls-chrome-clean
- midnitewarrior 4y ago
  Just keep smashing the ESC key when loading a NYT page if you want to read it.
zaktoo2 4y ago
Badly
yoyopa 4y ago
they use data based on sensors in your keyboard and phone to detect your unique typing and finger swiping patterns, so they can track you on any device.
EDEdDNEdDYFaN 4y ago
https://open.nytimes.com/how-the-new-york-times-uses-machine-learning-to-make-its-paywall-smarter-e5771d5f46f8 https://open.nytimes.com/how-the-new-york-times-uses-machine... They opensourced (some) of the logic used for how it works
RonMarken 4y ago
As a related topic the NY Times .onion site likes to refuse loading articles thinking a normal visitor with Tor Browser is a robot. If anyone has any contact with the NYTimes ops' team perhaps this issue could be raised with them.
1vuio0pswjnm7 4y ago
It does not work without a popular "browser", i.e., cookies, Javascript, etc. I never hit a "paywall" when reading NYT via the commandline. "I've noticed sometimes if you hit the paywall and then try a different browser the paywall is still there." If stop using a popular "browser", then it is gone. A couple of easy ways to get NYT article URLs 1. Sitemaps, e.g., https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-2022-01.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-2022-02.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-2022-03.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-2022-04.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-2022-05.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-2022-06.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-2022-07.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-2022-08.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-2022-09.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-1975-01.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-1975-02.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-1975-03.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-1975-04.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-1975-05.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-1975-06.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-1975-07.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-1975-08.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-1975-09.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-1975-10.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-1975-11.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-1975-12.xml.gz 2. JSONP https://static01.nyt.com/services/json/sectionfronts/$1/index.jsonp where $1 is one of the following fashion crosswords us briefing sports opinion magazine theater style business technology realestate t-magazine climate nyregion arts obituaries dining health briefing well learning science It is possible that this question is being asked because the submitter wants to try to annoy www users with a "paywall" like the one used by the NYT. Let's hope not.

23 points by mtgentry 4y ago

How does it work technically? Do they track your IP and machine specs? I’ve noticed sometimes if you hit the paywall and then try a different browser the paywall is still there.

WallyFunk 4y ago

Not sure how it works, but most of the time with these things you get a limit of three articles per unique session / IP then they prompt you to buy premium. I regularly switch IPs with a VPN and browse with different useragents in a private/incognito session, also with Javascript disabled. This works remarkably well. For those times it doesn't work, I check if it's on Archive.today[0] [0] https://archive.ph/ https://archive.ph/

kuba___ 4y ago
there is a browser add-on that can bypass paywalls ;) (including NYT paywall)
- thescribbblr 4y ago
  Which one?
  - mokarma 4y ago
    There's some Javascript you can run in the browser console to read articles normally: ``` (function readArticles(){ if(document.querySelector('#gateway-content')){ document.querySelector('#gateway-content').style.display = "none"; } if(document.querySelector('#app div div')){ document.querySelector('#app div div').style.overflowY = "scroll"; } if(document.querySelector('#app div div')){ document.querySelector('#app div div').lastElementChild.style.display = "none"; } if(document.querySelector('.css-mcm29f')){ document.querySelector('.css-mcm29f').style.overflowY = "scroll"; document.querySelector('.css-mcm29f').lastElementChild.style.display="none"; } if(document.querySelector('#site-content')){ document.querySelector('#site-content').style.position = "relative"; } })() ```
  - ceasesurthinko 4y ago
    https://gitlab.com/magnolia1234/bypass-paywalls-chrome-clean https://gitlab.com/magnolia1234/bypass-paywalls-chrome-clean
midnitewarrior 4y ago
Just keep smashing the ESC key when loading a NYT page if you want to read it.

zaktoo2 4y ago

Badly

yoyopa 4y ago

they use data based on sensors in your keyboard and phone to detect your unique typing and finger swiping patterns, so they can track you on any device.

EDEdDNEdDYFaN 4y ago

https://open.nytimes.com/how-the-new-york-times-uses-machine-learning-to-make-its-paywall-smarter-e5771d5f46f8 https://open.nytimes.com/how-the-new-york-times-uses-machine... They opensourced (some) of the logic used for how it works

RonMarken 4y ago

As a related topic the NY Times .onion site likes to refuse loading articles thinking a normal visitor with Tor Browser is a robot. If anyone has any contact with the NYTimes ops' team perhaps this issue could be raised with them.

1vuio0pswjnm7 4y ago

It does not work without a popular "browser", i.e., cookies, Javascript, etc. I never hit a "paywall" when reading NYT via the commandline. "I've noticed sometimes if you hit the paywall and then try a different browser the paywall is still there." If stop using a popular "browser", then it is gone. A couple of easy ways to get NYT article URLs 1. Sitemaps, e.g., https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-2022-01.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-2022-02.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-2022-03.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-2022-04.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-2022-05.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-2022-06.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-2022-07.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-2022-08.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-2022-09.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-1975-01.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-1975-02.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-1975-03.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-1975-04.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-1975-05.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-1975-06.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-1975-07.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-1975-08.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-1975-09.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-1975-10.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-1975-11.xml.gz https://www.nytimes.com/sitemaps/new/sitemap-1975-12.xml.gz 2. JSONP https://static01.nyt.com/services/json/sectionfronts/$1/index.jsonp where $1 is one of the following fashion crosswords us briefing sports opinion magazine theater style business technology realestate t-magazine climate nyregion arts obituaries dining health briefing well learning science It is possible that this question is being asked because the submitter wants to try to annoy www users with a "paywall" like the one used by the NYT. Let's hope not.