Google Flinches First, Modifies "First Click Free" Service to Appease News Publishers
Google Flinches First, Modifies "First Click Free" Service to Appease News Publishers
Posted 12/02/2009 at 8:00am
| by Paul Lilly
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The standoff betweent News Corporation's Rupert Murdoch and Google may have just come to an end. Murdoch, who in a recent interview said he was considering making his sites invisible to search to prevent aggregrators like Google from profiting from the works of others, is likely to back down now that Google has tweaked its "First Click Free" policy, which previously allowed users unfettered access to subscription-based content.
"Previously, each click from a user would be treated as free," Josh Cohen, Google Senior Business Product Manager, said in a statement. "Now, we've updated the program so that publishers can limit users to no more than five pages per day without registering or subscribing. If you're a Google user, this means that you may start to see a registration page after you've clicked through to more than five articles on the website of a publisher using First Click Free in a day."
Google hopes the announcement will put to rest concerns in the newspaper industry that the search giant is using newspaper content unfairly and profiting from that use. Under the revised First Click Free policy, users will no longer be able to avoid paying subscription fees by looking up pages through Google. The reason this was possible before is because Google searches often link directly to newspaper articles, bypassing subscription systems.
Is Google's latest move a fair trade off? Post your thoughts in the comments section below.
Original Image Credit: irishtimes.com
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Morete
December 03, 2009 at 3:07am
ZOMG = Zombies Oh My God! Internet/Slang
A comparative would be Yikes oh my God!
Consolitis
December 02, 2009 at 11:39am
I am sure Murdoch will be satified with this, and his gutless underlings will be too afraid to explain to him this doesn't really do anything.
jcollins
December 02, 2009 at 11:33am
I don't get how this is going to make Rupert Murdock happy. What he really wants is a check from Google for everyone they send to him...
jac_goudsmit
December 02, 2009 at 11:19am
While I can see that this would be a good compromise in the eyes of Rupert and friends, I can't help but wonder what advertisers will do when they realize that sites where people can only see (let's say) 5 pages without subscribing, will get a lot less clicks than websites where people can see all pages...
===Jac
nekollx
December 02, 2009 at 11:16am
Or you know, News Corp could get off their ass and make a proper system? The sites i work on have a user check on every page, if your not logged in it doesn't show the content, instead of using a front gate and open back pages....
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lunchbox73
December 02, 2009 at 11:06am
OK so I'm old and un-hip. What does ZOMG stand for exactly? Zebra Oh My God? Zelda Oh My God?
Five Rabbits
December 02, 2009 at 12:07pm
The Z doesn't stand for anything but sarcasm. And much like 'teh' it orginated as a typing mistake.
Mighty BOB!
December 02, 2009 at 5:13pm
Although it isn't always sarcasm. Sometimes it's just used to put even more emphasis on the 'omg.'
And Murdoch is still old.
I Jedi
December 02, 2009 at 10:54am
Until they start recording IPs! ZOMG, then we start using proxies! Then they start requiring registration, then we start making mulitple user accounts... Then they start charging for content, then we get our news from someplace else, and then they end up dying! THE FUN NEVER STOPS!!1
Sonickid101
December 02, 2009 at 9:24am
I would argue that it's not fair because it doesn't benefit me in any way.
Quakindude
December 02, 2009 at 8:36am
All you have to do is go incognito and there's no data to delete to continue clicking.
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***The views I express are my own and do not represent the views of MaximumPC Magazine or Future US.***
MeTo
December 02, 2009 at 7:13am
So when you reach the end of your free limit close the browser clear your cache & cookies. Start surfing gain.
B10H4Z4RD
December 02, 2009 at 8:24am
very true MeTo [yaya rhyme...] is there anything to stop us from that? Once again, the techies win...
______________________________________________________________________
On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero. Chuck Palahniuk, FIght Club.
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ASUS P5N-D
Nvidia8800GTS 640MB
gendoikari1
December 02, 2009 at 5:00pm
If the EU had its way back in '99, then there would have been something to stop you (but only in Europe):
http://www.squid-cache.org/mail-archive/squid-users/199903/0189.html
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