Bloomberg’s paywall comes at “at time of strength”

Digiday’s Lucia Moses interviewed Bloomberg Media CEO Justin Smith about the decision announced last week to introduce a paywall on its website.

Here is an excerpt:

Other publishers have turned to paywalls because they see limits to ad revenue growth. Bloomberg LP already has a hugely profitable terminal business. So why have a paywall?

The paywall is coming at a time of strength and when our existing model is working well. Since 2016, our audience grew by almost 100 percent to 93 million unique visitors a month. Digital advertising grew 26 percent last year. We’re not feeling the pressures a lot of other publishers are. But you’re looking at the future of media. There’s Google and Facebook’s hold on digital advertising, and you’re seeing people’s willingness to pay. When you see this shift in consumer behavior, the growth in the category and how competitive our product is, it’s an opportunity that’s interesting. We’re still in this moment when people are constantly in flux.

Read more here.