
Ask HN: The New York Times digital subscription business model? - alpb
Hi folks, I just realized even after subscribing to digital NYTimes (https:&#x2F;&#x2F;help.nytimes.com&#x2F;hc&#x2F;en-us&#x2F;articles&#x2F;115015852367-Digital-subscriptions), they continue to show ads both on mobile and web.<p>On web, the ads are especially super annoying. While trying to read a long article, you see the same half-screen filling ad over and over after every two paragraphs. Sometimes it&#x27;s like 10x shaver ads for me per article.<p>So I naturally cancelled my subscription. I am curious why&#x2F;how they&#x27;re able to sell this digital subscription. I can&#x27;t seem to find any value adds.
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tedd4u
If you don't subscribe, they severely restrict the number of articles you can
read per month (in my recent experience, as few as one).

If you try to get around this with Chrome incognito mode, you'll see a message
like this: "Log in or create a free New York Times account to continue reading
in private mode." Seems like they cannot currently detect Safari incognito
mode though.

Notes:

1) I am a paying NYT digital subscriber. I am happy to pay for quality, fact-
checked journalism.

2) I do run ad-blockers so that is part of the picture in my environment.
Maybe the way this enforcement works is different for people that are not
blocking ads. I haven't tested.

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rchaud
Apparently the NYT are removing open marketplace programmatic ads on their
mobile app due to their slow loading times.

[https://adexchanger.com/publishers/new-york-times-will-
pull-...](https://adexchanger.com/publishers/new-york-times-will-pull-
programmatic-ads-from-mobile-app-next-year/)

It's not clear if this includes ads only on NYT's own ad network or all third
party ad exchanges.

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Nextgrid
This is exactly why I don't subscribe to any newspaper online. There's no
guarantee they won't take your money _and_ show you ads or resell your
information (which is worth more as it's browsing habits tied to _validated_
payment information you provided during signup).

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rayhendricks
Sell your information or infect your computer with malware from their
advertising network partner.

Safari + reader view can view most articles except for the economist.

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duxup
I'm happy to subscribe to the NYT.

I care more about the quality of content rather than if I saw an
advertisement.

