Online Newspaper Registration...

[Guest]

Okay, I need to vent! Why is it there are increasing numbers of newspapers requiring registration to utilize the full-capabilities of their websites?

It seems like not too long ago, I could click on an article, and get a full article and images without having to go through this "how old are you? Do you subscribe? etc" jazz.

Now, it seems like most newspapers require FREE or paid registration. Why? THey have plenty of revenue probably coming in from circulation and advertisements (not to mention classfied want ads).

It drives me nuts! It seems like all these websites want is people's information.

Rant over. Thanks for listening/reading!

[southerngale]

You should include this little guy in your post. He'll tell them how it should be.

[HurryKane]

They have plenty of revenue probably coming in from circulation and advertisements (not to mention classfied want ads).

Not so much anymore...they want you to register online because they are losing circulation/'real paper' subscriptions at a rapidly increasing rate. They need the info to tailor their online marketing now and for the future in case they do decide to go subscription with their online editions.

It's a tremendous pain the arse--but most tech watchers believe that most newspapers will eventually begin to charge for online access to cover the hemorrhaging of their circulation income. In the meantime you can bypass a lot of the registration mess by going to http://bugmenot.com to get usernames and passwords that others have submitted.

[iceangel]

If I come across an article that I want to read and it turns out that I have to register to read it, I simply will not do it. I refuse!!!!

[Pebbles]

They have plenty of revenue probably coming in from circulation and advertisements (not to mention classfied want ads).

Not so much anymore...they want you to register online because they are losing circulation/'real paper' subscriptions at a rapidly increasing rate. They need the info to tailor their online marketing now and for the future in case they do decide to go subscription with their online editions.

It's a tremendous pain the arse--but most tech watchers believe that most newspapers will eventually begin to charge for online access to cover the hemorrhaging of their circulation income. In the meantime you can bypass a lot of the registration mess by going to http://bugmenot.com to get usernames and passwords that others have submitted.

I use to work at a newspaper. Contrary to popular belief newspapers don't make money off the actual subscriptions. That money goes to the carrier/seller of the newspaper and maybe a tad to the printing of it. It actually costs more to print the paper then the selling price! All their profits come purely from advertisements/classifieds yada yada yada. And they set their prices of advertisements off of.. you guessed it ... circulation (subscription) numbers. In fact those fun little insert/coupon packages are based off of circulation rate. See newspapers want bigger subscriber numbers to get the better 'coupon' packages/bigger advertisers because it makes them more money.

IT's all about the ads... I would think they could tweak 'circulation numbers' off website visit for their advertising in some way though. *sighs*

[Miss Mary]

Brian, not only that but many site require you to 'join' to read all sorts of articles. For example, I used to read TV Guide's online schedule, so I wouldn't have to miss a movie/special/show coming up (usually not a regular one). Now you have to fill out several pages of personal info, how often you watch this type show or that, how many in your household, ages I think, I started to fill it out one day but got sidetracked. Still can't find decent programming guides....unless you go to the individual channel (TV Land's site for another example).

I occasionally purchase online. There's another example of how you have to join, be given yet another password to remember (ugh) just so you can purchase online.

I love it when there's a skip or not now option, I do look for these, but not many website offer this option.

I learned about the skip feature the hard way - registering Nina for ACT and SAT tests. OMG, pages and pages of what I thought were required fields you have to fill out. We did need to join, and were given a password, had to choose a nic, just to register her for testing at our area's high school. Crazy!!! I called an ACT 1-800 #once all frazzled......the lady chuckled and said keep hitting skip until you see the credit card page.

Well, it's not quite the same thing that irks you but I wish we could just read newspaper articles online, easily w/o joining or filling out those questinairre fields, order online easily and schedule your kid for ACT/SAT testing!

Mary

[HurryKane]

I'm telling y'all... http://bugmenot.com works quite well for a large number of websites requiring registration. Try it out

[Guest]

Brian, not only that but many site require you to 'join' to read all sorts of articles. For example, I used to read TV Guide's online schedule, so I wouldn't have to miss a movie/special/show coming up (usually not a regular one). Now you have to fill out several pages of personal info, how often you watch this type show or that, how many in your household, ages I think, I started to fill it out one day but got sidetracked. Still can't find decent programming guides....unless you go to the individual channel (TV Land's site for another example).


Mary

Use the listings at Yahoo! ! They don't (at least not yet ) require any registration.

BTW, I just loved my newspaper's website up until about May. I could read full articles. [url]omaha.com[/url] now only shows the synopsis (basically the first paragraph) of each article.