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The desperation of NYTimes

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Re: The desperation of NYTimes

#41

Post by tangotaylor »

I wish we could just have microtransactions to buy access to individual articles at a time. Like physical news stands letting you buy a newspaper or magazine.

There are so many times where I've bounced away from an interesting article because I didn't want to deal with the subscription paywall.

The argument for subscriptions is it helps cultivate a relationship with customers and gives the business recurring revenue. Which is fine if I want the relationship, like with Ars Technica, Wired where I'm usually interested in their reporting. But in most cases the relationship feels awkward and forced, like this linked article mentions.

Like I'm not paying $400/year to The Information just to unlock a one-off story.

Re: The desperation of NYTimes

#42

Post by tptacek »

The problem you're going to have in these kinds of analyses is that the New York Times is the most successful news organization basically in all of North America. They're doing these things because they work.

Re: The desperation of NYTimes

#43

Post by ChrisArchitect »

Whatever they're doing, whether to maintain growth or increase it, it's mostly working.

Just today coincidentally:

The New York Times Reaches Three Million Digital Subscribers Outside the U.S.

https://www.nytco.com/press/the-new-york-times-reaches-three...

And last month:

The New York Times Passes 13 Million Subscribers

> For the second quarter of 2026, the company forecast a 14 to 17 percent increase in digital-only subscription revenue

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/06/business/media/new-york-t...

Re: The desperation of NYTimes

#45

Post by OkayPhysicist »

epistasis wrote: post #3

NYTimes is predatory on subscriptions. Over my long lifetime I've subscribed twice, and regretted it both times with intensity. Any place that allows easy instantaneous subscription by a simple web form, but makes you call and talk to a person during limited business hours for cancellation , is a toxic place. I've been told they have stopped this predatory practice due to some newly passed laws or something, but they…

The fact that they have an online unsubscribe option that's only available for California users is seriously scummy.

Re: The desperation of NYTimes

#46

Post by eduction »

epistasis wrote: post #3

NYTimes is predatory on subscriptions. Over my long lifetime I've subscribed twice, and regretted it both times with intensity. Any place that allows easy instantaneous subscription by a simple web form, but makes you call and talk to a person during limited business hours for cancellation , is a toxic place. I've been told they have stopped this predatory practice due to some newly passed laws or something, but they…

You can usually get a web cancel option by changing your address, because some states, including California[1], have laws requiring it be as easy to cancel as it was to sign up.

WSJ offered me an online cancel option after I moved (cough) to California.

It was a digital subscription by the way - usually they have your address on file anyway because you used it to verify your credit card.

[1]https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bont...

Re: The desperation of NYTimes

#47

Post by lostlogin »

notsydonia wrote: post #31
filoleg wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed, I made the same mistake once by subbing on their website. Dealing with the eventual cancelation was an absolute pain. Years later, I wanted to sub again, and this time I did it through the iOS app. Best decision ever, as now it just sits alongside my other App Store subscriptions and is easily cancelable in a single click.

I love this simple but excellent suggestion, thank you.

The NYT frequently offer price deals which make it cheaper to directly subscribe. But unsubscribe hell remains (or did in January this year). I’m not in the US.

Re: The desperation of NYTimes

#48

Post by dangus »

Not sure what the author is bitching about. They’re a one-time series of email messages over 14 days.

They are transactional emails. Maybe the author doesn’t agree with that but they’re welcome to take NYT to court over it.

Is their email provider charging you per email or something?

Re: The desperation of NYTimes

#49

Post by [deleted] »

epistasis wrote: post #3

NYTimes is predatory on subscriptions. Over my long lifetime I've subscribed twice, and regretted it both times with intensity. Any place that allows easy instantaneous subscription by a simple web form, but makes you call and talk to a person during limited business hours for cancellation , is a toxic place. I've been told they have stopped this predatory practice due to some newly passed laws or something, but they…

[deleted]

Re: The desperation of NYTimes

#50

Post by iscrewyou »

I was a subscriber and stopped simply because they have ads in the app. I could look past the slowness of the app than what a webpage could deliver but ads in articles for paid subscribers? Cancelled it.
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