‘It makes obvious business sense’: The Guardian rolls out compulsory login for heaviest users
Liz Wynn's role of "chief supporter revenue officer" includes all contributors and subscribers (Mumbrella)
The Guardian is bringing in compulsory registration for its heaviest Australian users as it seeks to grow engagement and revenue.
The Guardian’s chief supporter revenue officer Liz Wynn told Mumbrella the decision to make some users register and log in to use the free news site has been carefully considered, with the impact to advertising balanced against the benefit of direct reader connection.
”We’ve been trialing it across a few territories. So we started in Ireland. We then did some experimentation in New Zealand. We did a trial here in Australia, and actually this week we’ve introduced it across our whole audience in Australia,” she said.
The new rule applies to the top 0.5% of users, who are prompted to log in or register “three or four times” before a strict requirement to register kicks in. Unregistered readers cannot continue reading.
Hey Guardian
You lost a reader and my business over your stupid sign in rule.
I’m a heavy reader so don’t mess with my flow.
Ciao
You realise that publishers have to do this because they have lower traffic from AI Mode and AI Overviews in Google Search?
You’re contributing to their own demise…
If you want to keep media free and open, you need to support them by subscribing.
Not giving them my details, another user gone.
I’m the same – i dont need to be forced ads / revenue generating.