Using gated or subscription-only sites as sources

Some publishers gate their content behind a paywall or membership login. Here's what you need to know before adding them as sources.

Can rasa.io identify gated content?

No — because publishers gate content in different ways (monthly free article limits, time-based restrictions, membership requirements), there's no universal indicator we can apply. An article that's freely accessible today may be gated for a different reader, or gated for the same reader next week.

Should you use gated sources?

That depends on your comfort level and your audience. A few things to consider:

• Most subscribers will only encounter 1-2 paywalled articles in a given newsletter — many publishers allow a certain number of free reads per month, so subscribers may still be able to access the content
• Even if a subscriber hits the paywall, the article title and description in your newsletter may still provide value
• Association members often have existing subscriptions to relevant publications, so gated content may not be a barrier for your audience

Best practices

• If a source is heavily paywalled, consider whether the articles it produces are valuable enough to include
• Mix paywalled sources with freely accessible ones to ensure subscribers can always click through to read content
• If subscribers regularly complain about hitting paywalls, consider removing or reducing that source