Forrester: 80% of Americans Would Abandon News Websites If They Charged

def of “paywall” - A feature of a website that only allows access to certain pages or data to paid up subscribers

Will these paywalls, however carefully crafted, persuade people to pay for something they are used to getting free? A barrage of surveys suggests it will be difficult. A poll by Harris Interactive for paidContent:UK, a website owned the Guardian, finds that three-quarters of Britons say they would switch to an alternative free news source if their favourite website began charging. In November 2009 Forrester, a consultancy, found that 80% of Americans would abandon news websites if they charged. Plenty of news outlets, from the BBC to CNN, seem likely to continue providing free online news, and there will be plenty of aggregator websites to sift their offerings.
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