Depending on its spin, News International could report its latest paywall experiment as retaining one-third of its traffic, or losing two-thirds of it.
According to data from Experian Hitwise, which charts Internet traffic, visits to The Times of London and The Sunday Times’ Websites have dropped by 66% since parent company News International put those sites behind paywalls on July 2.
Some media pundits had predicted the site would lose as much as 90% of its traffic.
The drop might have been lessened by an introductory charge of £1 for the first 30 days. News Corp.’s Rupert Murdoch wants to charge £1 per day for access to the site, or £2 for a week.
In the five-week period before the paywall was erected, traffic fell 58% between May 22 and June 26, according to E&P’s former sister site, Mediaweek.
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