More context on deciding whether or not you want to include paywall or gated content.
Can We Identify Gated Content on the Frontend?
Because publishers have different methods of gating their content—such as allowing a certain number of free articles per month, restricting access after a specific amount of time, or requiring a subscription—it's impossible to predict when an article will be gated for each reader. The gating experience can vary based on the reader's previous interactions with the site.
For example, a reader might have access to an article today but find it gated a week later due to a time-based restriction. Given these variables, we don't have a global indicator for possible paywall content.
What is Gated Content?
Gated content typically refers to articles or sources that require a login to access. This could be due to a paid subscription, membership, or other access restrictions.
For example, publications like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Economist have paywalls that require you to pay for a subscription to read their articles, or they allow access after a limited number of free articles.
Another example might be an association or organization that produces publications for its members, requiring a member login to view the content.
Should You Use Gated Content?
This really depends on your comfort level as the publisher of your newsletter. It's likely that your audience will encounter only 1-2 articles from paywalled publications within your newsletter, which may allow them to use their free daily read for that article. Additionally, many of your audience members may already have subscriptions to some of your selected sources.
For articles from membership-based publications, this can be more relevant to your audience. If you're publishing a newsletter related to a particular organization, and your subscribers are all members, you shouldn’t run into any issues. However, if your newsletter reaches a broader audience, you might want to avoid including sources that require a membership login.
Indicating Gated Content
To help avoid frustrating your readers, we also recommend clearly indicating when a source requires a subscription or login. You can do this by naming the source with something like "NYT - Subscription Required" or by adding a lock emoji (🔒) next to it. This way, readers will know what to expect before they click.
While we typically don't encounter issues with sourcing these articles, we leave it up to your discretion as the sender on whether to include them.
If you have any questions about whether a source requires a login or if you should include it in your newsletter, please email support@rasa.io!