The headline is ‘Murdoch Considers Blocking Google News’, which is absolute commercial suicide. However, it sounds from the quote like Murdoch wants to restrict the amount of content available for free which is a different thing.
We have it already with The Wall Street Journal. We have a wall, but it’s not right to the ceiling. You can get, usually, the first paragraph from any story, but if you’re not a paying subscriber to WSJ.com all you get is a paragraph and a subscription form,” Murdoch said.
That point in the user journey where you feel like you’ve had your wrist slapped, and can’t have anything more is always difficult. But with smart design, it could work. I’m thinking of something like the Oyster Card or Pay as You Go phones: you play happily for a period without too much of a reminder that you’re constantly paying, with periodic and softer reminders to ‘top-up’.
Full article on NMA:
http://www.nma.co.uk/murdoch-considers-blocking-google-news/3006391.article?nl=DN
