A flat paywall is not the only option for a newspaper looking to charge for its digital content. In a time when advertising revenue cannot alone carry costs of publishing, Frederic Filloux's article in the Monday Note on the "metered model" is particularly timely. In the article, Filloux puts forth an alternative to the traditional paywall model that looks increasingly attractive to cash-strapped U.S. and European newspapers.

The article cites publications on either end of the spectrum. The Times of London has the most extreme pay model: no access without a pay subscription. This is a particularly dangerous option, as it drives away viewership who can find content free elsewhere. Other newspapers put some content behind a paywall and allow general articles to be accessed for free, such as the Wall Street Journal. The WSJ has had the most success with its paywall implementation, as it has a paywall on digital content since it went online. Other papers have had more difficulty, as readers are satisfied with perusing only the free general content.

The other option is a meter system. After a certain number of freely viewed articles, the viewer hits a paywall, in which it must pay a certain amount to continue viewing articles for the month. Here the biggest difficulty is achieving a balance. The Financial Times uses this system. It works for the FT.com, as it offers highly specialized quality content that some readers are willing to pay for. INMA reported that the FT,com's metered paywall allowed the paper to identify its audience and rack in large advertising revenue. At first, the paper did not have many subscribers, as its 30 free articles a month limit was too high. However, after trial and error, the FT.com lowered the number of free monthly articles and has managed to attract 224,000 users who pay for extra content.

Not all newspapers have such success, however. The Columbia Journalism Review reported that the Newsday paywall had only attracted 35 subscribers between October 2009 and January 2010, but attributed this to the high number of cable subscribers that received free online subscriptions. The CJR's main criticism lay in Newsday's decision to block access to viewers who stumbled upon the site through a search engine, which prevented additional viewership.

The most recent paywall that made a lot of noise in the publishing world was the New York Times paywall, which adheres to the metered system. The CJR praised the new paywall, explaining that the 5 to 10 percent of viewers who pay for content make up the lion's share of revenue, but the paper still receives some revenue from viewers who found content through social media or a search engine. The system is a "leaky" pay meter and provides free content for print subscribers, which is a good move in terms of maintaining reader loyalty from those who consume both mediums.

Sources: Monday Note, CJR,org (1), (2), INMA

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