Watch for changes to the Times Union’s digital offerings.
I noticed on my phone and tablet they’ve been fiddling with settings that impose a monthly story limit. By “fiddling,” I mean turning it on and off. Also, the paid content timesunionPLUS story designation has vanished.
It could mean that they’re getting ready to pull the plug on free content — like so many newspapers have done — and that the timesunionPLUS scheme was a bust.
The blogs? Those will probably stay free. Hey, you get what you pay for.
Maybe they’ll take up my idea of offering unlimited access for $.25 per week, which I’d gladly pay for the online edition.
“Rob,” you say, “why should they give away their news content. That makes no sense, these days.”
No, I suppose it doesn’t. And who would do that, anyway? Oh, I don’t know — local TV stations, maybe? They’ve never charged you for news and they still don’t.
Anyhow, wait and see.
They’re also putting blocker adverts on the blogs – after you click on a particular blog (usually the community ones), the screen greys out and you get a screen asking if you would like to receive digital stories for $1/week. You have to click on a “yes / no” choice before you can continue to read the blog. This also circumvents the AdBlockPlus feature on my web browser. Sneaky tactic, Big Hearst.
Yeah, big paywall coming. I like the wording of some of those notices. I recall one being something like, “No, I don’t want breaking news.”
Can’t blame them for wanting to get paid, I suppose.