Google looks to subscriptions as it ditches ‘free news’ rules
The search engine used to require publishers with paywalls to offer a few stories for free each day, but after complaints of declining revenue, it’s embracing a new model and partnership.
Once punished in search results unless they offered users three free articles per day, publishers with paywalls will now be indexed in search results with the same criteria as free websites.
For the last decade, Google’s “first click free” policy helped ensure that non-subscribers wouldn’t be stifled by paywalls when they clicked on news articles from searches.
Google, the largest component of Alphabet, had contended that free samples would lead to increased subscriptions.
The move comes after complaints from publishers such as News Corp suffered significant sales declines in recent years.
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