Boston.com Registers 1 Million-plus Users; Toronto Star Drops Registration

The New York Times Company continues to sing the praises of registration while some sites like the Houston Chronicle and the Toronto Star, are knocking down walls. For NYTCO, registration is a way to offer advertisers more targeted information about their potential audience. Once execs saw it working for NYTimes.com, Boston.com was next in line. In the nine months since registration started, more than 1 million users have registered. Of those, according to a company spokesman, 67 percent reside in New England; 54 percent are 25-44; and 29 percent have a household income greater than $100,000. Now Boston.com is planning a premium subscription product a la TimesSelect.
In recent weeks, though, other newspaper sites have gone in a different direction. TheStar.com, for instance, removed its overall requirement Nov. 28 but still collects personal information for access to some parts of the site. Michael Goldbloom, Publisher, Toronto Star, explained on the site: “We believe that in order to be competitive in the online news and information space, growth of both audience and page impressions will be the cornerstone of our success. Further, we believe that the key to that growth is through the removal of all barriers, including registration.

Thing is, registration and business models aren’t one size fits all. What works for one site may not work for others in the same category. Sites willing to give up some users might derive enough benefit to make the trade-off worthwhile. NYTCO said earlier this month that, as a result of the switch, Boston.com is getting a minimum of 25 percent over the rate card for behavioral and demographic targeted advertising.
Others may gain more by opening up. TechDirt raises the question of whether the registration data is valid. Every time I’ve asked various outlets about that I’ve been told a surprisingly small amount of the information is false. That may be shifting as people become more concerned about identity issues online. I’d be interested in hearing from any of you with expertise in this area.

Related: Boston Globe, Boston.com Exploring Premium Sports Package

Exclusive Audio: Part II: Interview with Martin Nisenholtz, SVP-Digital Operations, NYTCO
Houston Chronicle Backs Off Of Registration

Comments have been disabled for this post