Tony McGrath
24 February 2011
There are both upsides and downsides to the Daily Telegraph's plans to charge for certain types of content online, according to an analysis from the Guardian.
The Telegraph's decision to charge for online content, according to the Guardian, is not the draconian paywall readers of The Times may be used to. Rather, it will only redirect users to an online payment gateway after a certain number of page views. The intent is not to stop casual readers from accessing a few stories a month, but rather to help identify dedicated readers of the news outlet. This may also provide valuable marketing information, the Guardian said.
That newspaper characterizes the Telegraph's plans as "cautious." However, it points out that any paywall system runs the risk of driving readers to other outlets in the same ideological vein like the Daily Mail, which has no payment restrictions for online content.
Other experts have said that a major downside to online paywalls for newspaper content is the difficulty of implementing a payment gateway that can be quickly and easily used by readers.
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