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For most of WIRED’s history their business model has primarily been built on advertising. Advertisers are eager to connect with WIRED’s audience. However in recent years, that industry has proven very turbulent, and too much of a risk to hang your whole business strategy on. WIRED therefore sat down, and came up with a new strategy, which was to implement a paywall.
Wired stated that their business strategy to launch a paywall would enable them to keep “a home for unique, surprising, challenging, and sophisticated journalism for the next quarter-century and beyond.”
As information has become cheap, even free and easy to distribute, WIRED believe that quality information –built on elite reporting, vivid writing, and expert insight- remains extremely valuable.
By subscribing to WIRED, readers can aid continue the fresh insights and deep reporting. Essentially, if an anonymous reader would access four articles in a month, they’d be met with a notification that would ask them to subscribe in order to access further material. If users do choose to subscribe, they’d get unlimited access to WIRED.com, and a print subscription. They’d also gain access to a YubiKey- a tool for protecting themselves online.
Subscribers will also receive the digital edition of WIRED magazine, with the added bonus of having the ads removed when they surf online.
These are all the little perks WIRED say that subscribers get to look forward to, however the main bonus that readers will have to look forward to, is the continuation of the WIRED product. With a paywall, the funds that go into this will drive creativity and new innovative reporting techniques, which ultimately brings better content to readers. With that being said, WIRED are making the most of the new funding opportunities this paywall will give them, and unveiled three new initiatives to coincide with the launch of their paywall. These are
WIRED has watched journalism grow for the past 25 years, and a paywall is simply adapting to modern times and providing a a security blanket for their content. The paywall acts as an insurance, quality reporting, reliable reporting, and innovative reporting. It shouldn’t be seen as a negative from their readers’ point of view.
Here at Evolok, paywalls are a small part of our extensive arsenal. If what you’ve read today has interested you, don’t hesitate to get into contact for a further discussion.
