Newspaper publishers will now be able to set a limit on the number of free news articles people can read through Google.
The concession follows claims from some media companies that the search engine is profiting from online news pages.
Under the First Click Free programme, publishers can now prevent unrestricted access to subscription websites. Users who click on more than five articles in a day may be routed to payment or registration pages…
Google users may start seeing registration pages appear when they click for a sixth time on any given day at websites of publishers using the programme.
This will only affect websites that currently charge for content.
RTFA. Lots of woolgathering and foggy crystal ball-gazing. I think all the media sites have missed the point that Google just established:
They have further covered their buns against allegations of Restraint of Trade made by fogies like Rupert Murdoch. But, they allow the decision to cut off readers’ access to lie entirely within the decision-making apparatus put online by media publishers. It ain’t Google’s fault if you click a link to Financial Times and are greeted with a request to register and pay to read the whole article.
You can still press the Back Button and return to your original search page – and click on to another media site offering their own take on the same content, no charge!
And if your site doesn’t want me to read the article (and see your ads) I can always go to another site (and see their ads).