Why do online newspapers require logins?

[Kire]

I'm talking about big regional ones: the New York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Miami Herald, the LA Times, the Washington Post, and hundreds of others.

Granted, they are allowed to, because they are private companies. But is this a wise business practice?

I don't know, I was just thinking that it would make more sense if it didn't require registration unless it was a paid service. How does it help the reader? Is it just a frustration tool because they resent that we get their news without giving them a thirty-five cents (or whatever) every day?

Maybe, I'm just a frustrated person who doesn't like having to keep track of a dozen passwords and usernames all of the time. But, aren't these valid questions?

[BlueEyedSon]

1. go to bugmenot.com

[Kire]

6. that is very cool

I'm glad I asked that question. Thanks, so much.

[bowens43]

8. the firefox extension for bugmenot is great too.

just right click in the login box and it handles the rest!

[Danmel]

2. Maybe on line readers count in circulation totals???

I don't know how they calculate that stuff, but if on line readers count for circulation totals, clearly they'd have a financial interest in tracking that even if there is no charge for using the on line site. Just a thought, I have no real idea.

[No Mandate Here.]

3. They sell you and your cookied information

and probably make more than 35 cents each time you read it. There are several blogs that have universal logins, but I don't remember where or who.


Anybody got them?

[Sporadicus]

4. Marketing

The papers hope that the 1-out-of-1,000 reader will actually subscribe to their rag. Lots of papers give options on the sign-up page to receive spam, which earns the paper some pittance per acceptance. All subscribers should make certain that they aren't setting themselves up to get spammed. The best method, however, remains using BugMeNot.com.

[fryguy]

5. tracking

eom

[rox63]

7. It helps them sell advertising

Advertising it what pays the bills at newspapers. They can't sell advertising unless they can assure potential advertisers that a lot of people will see their ads. The only way to track that online is to track the people who read their site. It's easier with print newspapers, because all you have to track is how many papers you sold. I don't have a problem with it, since I'm not actually paying for the newspaper.

[splat]

9. inside info from news reg site

Somebody who works at a news site with registration told me a local company would buy so many showings of an ad and only want it displayed to people in their area.

He said they don't sell your name, but if you say you want to see offers, they'll email the offer to you for the company behind it.

It's still a pain in the butt.

[izzie]

10. I hate the ones that want money

I would just love to read Robert Fisk.I also have trouble getting in even when I have done all the work. WashPost and NYTimes are always givng me a hard time.

[mcscajun]

11. I look at this way...if I'm going to be on their site every single day...

...then I ought to register. Because if I don't, then their advertisers will stop supporting the site, and one day, it won't BE there for me to read. If I'm only there for a moment, following a link somebody posted here, then I'll use BugMeNot.com.

I even click on one of the ads now and then, because that keeps the content free.

Other sites charge for their content because they accept no ads.

Servers, Bandwidth and Webmasters aren't Free. Content can't be either. Somehow, someway, somebody has to be paying the bills.

You make your own choices about what you pay for, and that impacts what is available.

As to all the many registrations and passwords, I keep a small spiral notebook with 'em. It's not like it's passwords to my finances, after all.

[intheflow]

12. I use the same username and password for them all.

Why not? I don't care if someone hacks into both the NYTimes and the WP and sees I read both.

I also use one public Yahoo address just for registrations and newsletters. That way I can keep track of the passwords better on those accounts where my standard password or username doesn't work. The account gets a ton of junk mail, but about 80% is syphoned off into the bulk mail folder and the other 20% is mostly harmless. I also use that account for joke swapping with friends, so I have an impetus to check it regularly.

This has worked very well for me. My private Yahoo account only gets about 20 junk emails a year, so easy enough to delete.