The Meter vs. The Paywall The Metered Model  Casual readers can read X articles for free each month engaged readers subscribe to read more than that.  Casual users sample content and become more engaged over time.  Page views drop slightly and then recover unique visitors remain steady in most cases.  Ad revenue is generally unaffected.  Publishers make data-driven decisions about the meter limit over time, optimizing traffic and revenue. The Paywall Model  Content is blocked for all users, even casual ones who are highly unlikely to subscribe for access.  Casual users never visit the site nearly all engaged readers leave.  Search and social rankings plummet  Traffic drops 80-90% and digital advertising revenue disappears.  Lack of sampling removes opportunity to entice new readers to the brand.  Editors agonize daily over which content to put “behind” the paywall.