To my surprise, I just received free access to NYTimes.com for the rest of 2011. Sponsored by Ford’s Lincoln brand, the New York Times is offering free accounts to “an exclusive group of frequent visitors to NYTimes.com.”
The majority of modern webpages today don’t just get content from their own server but also load numerous scripts for ads, analytics and other features like the ubiquitous Facebook like buttons from across the web. Often, loading these scripts from third-party services can take a while and browsers often have to wait for these services…
The New York Times today erected an online paywall for its readers in Canada and plans to roll this system out worldwide on March 28. NYTimes.com readers will be able to access 20 articles per month for free. The New York Times will also charge users of its smartphone and tablet apps, though the Top News section in these apps will remain free. Monthly subscriptions will start at $15 per month for access to the website and smartphone app. For access to the website and tablet app – but not the smartphone apps – user have to pay $20. Full access to NYTimes.com content on all platforms will cost $35. There is no website-only subscription.