The Times U.K. Lost 4 Million Readers to Its Paywall

Whether a content provider decides to put up a "paywall" or not is a business decision any company can make. Whether that is a good thing or not remains to be seen.

According to comScore, the Times UK website saw its online readership decline by four million unique visitors a month worldwide to 2.4 million, or a 62 percent drop.

Pageviews fell off an even steeper cliff, plummeting 90 percent from an estimated 41 million in May, 2010 to four million in September, 2010.

People did what you’d expect them to do when faced with a paywall at a news site. They said, “No, thanks” and clicked away to another site.

That doesn't necessarily mean the decision is wrong. The Times might be willing to trade higher subscriber revenues for lower potential ad revenue. But it has been a wrenching decision so far.

The Times U.K. Lost 4 Million Readers to Its Paywall -- Seeking Alpha