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> They want to force users to register before viewing any articles, but they also want Google to index these same articles (and a forced registration would prev
by skalpelis 17y ago
> They want to force users to register before viewing any articles, but they also want Google to index these same articles (and a forced registration would prevent that). Google wants the same thing (to index the pages), but seeks to avoid special exceptions in its algorithm (e.g., maintaining a whitelist of sites who are allowed to cloak).
Even if the cloaked-paywall-articles get indexed, couldn't that same fact - that they are behind a paywall and not easily accessible - be interpreted that they offer lower quality search results and thus should be listed further down the organic search result list?
- qeorge 17y agoCertainly, but unless the Google searcher can access the content behind the paywall without registration the website is not following the First Click Free rules. If they cloak to Googlebot and don't follow FCF they'll be delisted, because as you said inaccessible content is by definition low-quality (in this case).