WSJ is closing the Google loophole

The Wall Street Journal is turning off the feature that let people skirt its paywall by cutting and pasting the headline of a story into Google, reports Lucia Moses of Digiday.

Moses writes, “Meanwhile, a new team has been tweaking the subscription messaging to get people to convert, learning that telling people they can cancel any time and putting price information front and center had positive results driving subs. Since tightening the paywall, the Journal said, the average number of stories leading people to subscribe is up 66 percent, which the pub says is testament to the strength of its long-tail.

“While it’s doing away with the Google trick, the Journal also started letting people read for free links that are shared on social media by subscribers and staffers. Since making that change, the Journal has seen a 30 percent boost in traffic from social media, primarily from Facebook. The Journal is treating the social sharing ability like a perk for subscribers, like the other ones they get from a free subscriber membership program that the Journal launched in 2014, WSJ+.

“‘We’re very confident in our strategy around what we’re doing in social,’ Watford said. ‘It’s a membership benefit. We have a large and influential audience. If you’re a paying member, we want to make sure you can share those stories.’

“It remains to be seen how long the good times will last, though. The 110,000 new subscribers came in at a mix of offers, of $12 for 12 weeks as well as two-month, six-month and 1-year term offers. So the question is if people renew once those deals ends and the prices goes up.”

Read more here.