What’s this about?
I think Google ending First Click Free will set the cat amongst the pigeons.
If news publishers can rank with user-inaccessible content, what about other websites?
I do feel sorry for new publishers though. Those glass-walled offices in big city-centres can’t be cheap.
Read this SEO update from TWIS SEO News & Updates w/e 15 Sept 2017 and find out your options if First Click Free ends.
#SEO #SEONews #FirstClickFree #GoogleNews #Revenue #AdStrategy
Google Ending First Click Free
Summary:
- Awww, the cuddly old Google is apparently allowing news publishers to opt out of First Click Free and *not* lose news rankings.
- This is to help keep the poor old news publishers afloat.
- According to the Wall Street Journal (not free, therefore not linked) this deal was hashed out by the Google CEO and the News Corp CEO (News Corp own WSJ, lest we forget).
- Nothing has yet been formally announced.
- This is inline with my recent stories: Google Testing New Subscription Options for Publishers, and Google News Facelift After 7 Years, and Wall Street Journal 44% SEO Traffic Loss.
Actions to take:
- If First Click Free goes news publishers will need to leave things as they are.
- Or they can update their systems so that nothing bar a headline is given away for free.
- Either way, publishers would need to weigh up the commercial implications of dropping First Click Free – potentially higher subscriptions vs potentially lower traffic numbers.
- Click here to contact me to discuss ways to use First Click Free and ways to monetise traffic.
Discussion:
Rupert Murdoch, owner of News Corp, and ultimately owner of the Wall Street Journal is not widely known for his unfettered support of competitors. If the WSJ is making such a great job of its turn away from First Click Free, you’d have to wonder why they would be entreating Google to ditch it.
When you apply some brain cells to the issue, if they are making a fortune, their competitors are not getting any of those forced subscription dollars. Why spread those dollars around more thinly?
But I could be hugely mistaken and WSJ has the widespread interests of news publishers at heart. Google kind of does. It knows if publishers go to the wall, then it will be left with fake news, bloggers and uninformed commentary of the wildest proportions.
I do think the news publishers need to find a way to survive, but comparing the quality and location of their offices to mine leads me to wonder if they couldn’t trim the fat. Just a little bit.
More info:
- Not gonna link the WSJ Story
- H/T SE Land
The State of SEO Mid-2017 Released
TL;DR
- The WSJ appears to have negotiated the end of First Click Free.
- This despite a massive uplift in subscriptions, allegedly.
- They must be doing this out of kindness then, for the good of the news publishing industry.
- Read The State of SEO in mid-2017.
- Read about how Google’s Mobile First Index is not Mobile Friendly.
- Finally, get your content ranking well on Google by starting to understand Find Crawl Index.
Thanks for reading. If you would like to discuss what these changes mean for your web property, or would like to know how to implement them, please feel free to contact me.
