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:

TWIS Google Ends First Click Free

Actions to take:

  1. If First Click Free goes news publishers will need to leave things as they are.
  2. Or they can update their systems so that nothing bar a headline is given away for free.
  3. Either way, publishers would need to weigh up the commercial implications of dropping First Click Free – potentially higher subscriptions vs potentially lower traffic numbers.
  4. 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:

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The State of SEO Mid-2017 Released

The State of SEO Mid 2017

We recently released the super-exciting The State of SEO in mid-2017. Read it now.

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TL;DR

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.

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