Paywall
A paywall is the mechanism reserving content for subscribers. Its forms, its economics, and what it changes for how information circulates.
A paywall is the technical mechanism reserving all or part of a site's content for paying subscribers. It is the online descendant of a simple fact: a newspaper was never free either, you paid at the kiosk.
The three common forms
- The hard paywall: everything is closed, you read nothing without a subscription.
- The metered wall: a handful of free articles a month, then the gate drops.
- The mixed or freemium model: hot news stays open, investigations and analysis are held back.
The logic is the kiosk's. But it has a real side effect on how information circulates: the most expensive work, the investigation, is often what goes behind the wall, while the least verified content stays entirely free and shareable.
Frequently asked questions
Why does an article open from Google close afterwards?
Many sites let visitors arriving from a search engine or a social network through, then close on subsequent visits. It is not a bug: the outlet accepts giving away a first read to get known, hoping to convert later. The counter usually lives in a cookie, which is also why it "resets" in a private window.
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