We have made a host of improvements to our web presence over the past four years, perhaps the most significant being the launch of our current website in August 2014. But one question has haunted us — and the rest of the journalism industry — during that time: How can we monetize our website?
Over the course of my tenure at The Post, there have been perennial conversations about how the publication can increase its digital footprint.
We have made a host of improvements to our web presence over the past four years, perhaps the most significant being the launch of our current website in August 2014. But one question has haunted us — and the rest of the journalism industry — during that time: How can we monetize our website?
With that question in mind, The Post will be launching a service next month that will change the way you interact with our online content. The service, called Google Consumer Surveys, populates web pages with short surveys that function effectively as a paywall — allowing readers to access our online content, only after they have answered (or skipped) a short question or series of questions.
Surveys take 15 seconds or less to complete and are, at times, fun to answer. For example: I was asked what my least favorite band is while reading a story from a northeast Ohio television station on Wednesday. Sorry, Nickelback.
As we increase the amount of resources we put toward our digital efforts we need to find ways to make money online, too. This is one way we have found that to be possible.
Here’s how Google Consumer Surveys works:
- You will be prompted with a question or short series of questions when you click into a story, slideshow or video on thepostathens.com. (Example: “Which of the following brands of cereal do you like most?”)
- You select an answer, which allows you to access the rest of the webpage
- We make five cents.
Some of the surveys will have multiple questions, but each one you answer earns you 24 hours more “questionless” access to thepostathens.com. And, of course, you have the option of skipping the surveys altogether.
Other publications that use this service report few negative reactions from readers and a meteoric rise in digital revenues.
We expect to launch the service in early April. Until then, we will be writing regularly about why we’re making this change; what you can expect once the survey service is implemented and how it will help The Post finance ambitious journalism. Some of those explainers will be staff editorials written by The Post’s top editors, and others will be written by myself or Post Digital Managing Editor, William Hoffman.
We view the addition of this survey service as an important step in the evolution of our digital product, which is accessed by tens of thousands of you each week. We aim to have an open dialogue with you in the weeks leading up to the change and continue that conversation until the surveys are second nature while reading thepostathens.com.
As always, thanks for reading.
Jim Ryan is a senior studying journalism and political science and editor-in-chief of The Post. Contact him at jr992810@ohio.edu or on Twitter at @Jimryan015.
