The New WSJ.com: More Readers, Who Are Less Interested

Michael Learmonth | July 7, 2008 1:34 PM

rupertmurdochrobertthomson_7.jpgLast year Rupert Murdoch reversed himself and decided not to make the online version of the Wall Street Journal free. That looks like a good call: WSJ.com has been posting huge growth this year, even as it has kept its pay wall up.

But as we noted earlier this spring, that growth might be a mixed blessing: Because the WSJ is getting many of its new readers "through the side door" -- referred by other sites -- they are less likely than the Journal's core audience to stick around and read more stories.

That would explain today's news, which is that while unique visitors have continued to increase for the Journal this spring, those visitors are reading fewer stories than they have in the past.

The WSJ told Mediaweek WSJ.com reached 16.2 million unique visitors in June, a 94% increase from last year. Page views were up 45% to 150 million.

Impressive, but not quite as impressive as earlier this year, when the Journal trotted out March numbers for Portfolio. In March, WSJ.com saw 15 million unique visitors, a 175% y/y increase, and page views were 165 million, a 75% increase from 2007.

That means not only is growth slowing, but monthly page views took a 9% drop from March. We sort of saw this coming:

Much more likely is that WSJ.com is getting its links in front of lots of new readers, something that Murray alludes to here: "We've gotten much smarter about search engine optimization, and much smarter about working with portals and aggregators." That also explains why uniques are growing much faster than page views -- if someone gets guided to WSJ.com by, say, Digg or Google News (GOOG), they're much less likely to read additional stories than a WSJ subscriber would.

The skeptical way to look at the growth, then, is to point out that WSJ.com's select, high value audience is getting diluted as it grows, which will eventually bring down CPMs for the site.

Again, this isn't a terrible thing: Most publishers, online or off, would be happy to post triple-digit year-over-year increases in their readership. And even if that shaves the Journals' ad rates down a bit, Rupe should still come out ahead in the end. But do keep an eye on that Digg-bait.

See Also: WSJ.com: Paywall Isn't Hurting Us
What Happens To The New WSJ When The Election Is Old News?

Subscribe to SAI: RSS, email newsletter (no spam)

More:

Share:
Post to Del.icio.us


< Prev. Story
Next Story >

39 Comments

Sachin Agarwal (URL) said:
There's nothing inherent in why Digg or Google News readers don't read other WSJ stories - the WSJ itself makes it impossible for people coming from those paths to look around.

I'd suggest that the Journal do what the NYTimes does when you're not logged in - set a timed cookie that allows unfettered access to the site for 10-15 minutes before requiring a valid login. This way, those readers that were interested in other stories could read them (and up the Journal's PVs and ad revenue) while still maintaining a sufficient impetus for full (paid) registration.
Kieran Hawe (URL) said:
There is nothing wrong with the WSJ putting itself out there online in order to drive new visitors - even if they consume less content. The WSJ will always have its core readership and should be focusing on other traffic streams.

The WSJ should now focus on internal content discovery so that they can keep those new visitors not only on the site but coming back.
ok said:
I agree with both comments. Yes, they have their die-hard readers, but to increase upon that number they need to open up their on-line content with a simple registration, similar, as Sachin said, to the NYT. It is annoying to be sent a link to the WSJ and then be blocked from searching for other articles. There are so many other places to look I usually give up easily. Come on, Rup. Give it up, a little...
wow gold (URL) said:
Farming for WOW GOld isn't easy,but you can buy cheap wow GoLd,
WOw golDpower leveling on sale. Looking to buy woW gOld,
or wOw Gold sell,Items or Accounts ? Please look here WOw gold,
wow gold, WOw GOld, woW goLD,
WoW gold, WOw gold.
lv said:
dvd ripper for mac is a wonderful dvd ripper which is designed for Mac users, with it, you can freely rip your dvd to AVI, MPEG, MPG, WMV, DIVX, RM, MOV, FLV, 3GP, 3GP2, MP4, MP4 AVC.This DVD Ripper for Mac OS X also supports Audio formats like MP3, WAV, WMA, AAC, AC3, M4A (AAC), OGG, RA, AU.mac video converter
sohbet chat sohbet chat çet sohbet chat özcan sarıca ile kurtlar vadisi pusu 3.sezon 1.seo yarışması aytug akdogan ödüllü 1. seo yarışması ve yurtta barış dünyada barış sesli chat sesli sohbet sesli görüntülü chat görüntülü sohbet kameralı sohbet kameralı chat bayan arkadaş görüntülü çet sesli muhabbet kızlarla sohbet kızlarla chat kameralı çet kameralı sohpet kızlarla çet chat gizli kamera güvenlik sistemleri kamera güvenlik kamerası cilt bakımı cilt bakım ürünleri ıslak mendil kolonyalı mendil kolonyalı mendil güvenlik kamerası gizli kamera kamera canlı sohbet sohpet sohbet sesli sesli chat sesli sohbet kameralı sohbet kameralı chat görüntülü chat görüntülü sohbet bayanlarla sohbet sesli muhabbet bayanlarla chat kızlarla sohbet bayan arkadaş görüntülü çet sesli çet sesli sohpet seslichat sesliçet kameralı sohpet kameralı çet kızlarla sohpet kızlarla çet sesli sohbet sesli sohbet sesli sohbet sesli chat sesli chat chat çet ek iş ek gelir mirc avşa adası avşa avşa adası avşa tatil tatil köyleri "Trkycmhrytllbtpydrklcktr" Trkycmhrytllbtpydrklcktr Trkycmhrytllbtpydrklcktr "Trkycmhrytllbtpydrklcktr" "Trkycmhrytllbtpydrklcktr" Trkycmhrytllbtpydrklcktr özcan sarıca ile kurtlar vadisi pusu 3.sezon 1.seo yarışması özcan sarıca ile kurtlar vadisi pusu 3.sezon 1.seo yarışması aytug akdogan ödüllü 1. seo yarışması ve yurtta barış dünyada barış aytug akdogan ödüllü 1. seo yarışması ve yurtta barış dünyada barış "adtech ile reklam 2.0 dönemi başlıyor ve Trkycmhrytllbtpydrklcktr r10.net seo yarışması" adtech ile reklam 2.0 dönemi başlıyor ve Trkycmhrytllbtpydrklcktr r10.net seo yarışması adtech ile reklam 2.0 dönemi başlıyor ve Trkycmhrytllbtpydrklcktr r10.net seo yarışması "adtech ile reklam 2.0 dönemi başlıyor ve Trkycmhrytllbtpydrklcktr r10.net seo yarışması" "adtech ile reklam 2.0 dönemi başlıyor ve Trkycmhrytllbtpydrklcktr r10.net seo yarışması" adtech ile reklam 2.0 dönemi başlıyor ve Trkycmhrytllbtpydrklcktr r10.net seo yarışması ıslak mendil ıslak mendil kolonyalı mendil kolonyalı mendil paketleme ambalajlama paket web tasarım seo refreshing towel perde tatil kozmetik haber joy türk radyo aşk haber video tatil tekstilkent yabancı personel çalışma izni



MyTechSis Otomobil Ödüllü Seo Yarışması

MyTechSis Otomobil Ödüllü Seo Yarışması

sohbet
sohbet
sohbet
chat
msn
kimsesiz
belediye baskanlari
belediye baskanlari
belediye baskanlarimiz
belediye baskanlarimiz
belediye baskanlarimiz
belediye baskanlarimiz
belediye baskanlarimiz
belediye baskanlarimiz
erotik resimler
senato adayları
millet vekili adaylari
belediye baskanları
komik fikralar
manzara resimleri
tente
tom said:
nice site. Thanks.
スザンヌ 画像
welcome to wow gold,world of warcraft gold,warcraft gold,world of warcraft gold,wow leveling, the cheapWoW Power Leveling, service site,world of warcraft WoW Power Leveling,fast and secure service.we WoW Power Leveling, WoW gold isn’t found everywhere in the game; WoW Power Leveling,you have to look for it and, when you find it,WoW Gold, you have to save it.WoW Gold,WOW goldis earned through doing things like killing enemies, WoW Gold, hunting and crafting. WoW Gold, is for sale online at a number of locations. buy WoW Gold,The decision wow gold,wow gold to buy wow gold is one Cheap WoW Gold, that many video gamers wrestle with. Cheap WoW Gold,Many World of Warcraft players try to play the game on their own wow power level before making the decision to buy wow gold. Cheap WoW Gold,If you wow gold,want to buy Cheap WoW Gold,wow gold there is nothing wrong with it.WoW Gold, Buying wow gold is similar to finding cheat codes WoW Gold,World of warcraft Power Leveling,World of warcraft Power Leveling,age of conan gold,aoc gold,buy aoc gold,cheap aoc gold,aoc power leveling,age of conan power leveling,aoc power leveling,aoc gold,age of conan gold,age of conan power leveling,maplestory mesos, maple story mesos,maple story mesos,maple story mesos,maple story mesos,Maple Story mesos,MapleStory mesos,ms mesos,mesos,SilkRoad Gold,SRO Gold,SilkRoad Online Gold,eq2 plat,eq2 gold,eq2 Platinum,EverQuest 2 Platinum,EverQuest 2 gold,EverQuest 2 plat,lotro gold,lotr gold,Lord of the Rings online Gold,oil purifier,rolex replica,replica rolex,chongqing,yantai,evening dresses,evening gowns,wedding dresses,bridal gowns,wedding gowns,cocktail dresses,Bridesmaid dresses,prom dresses,formal dresses,Promotional items,Promotional products,Wedding dresses,Pet supplies,Dog clothes,Replica handbags,Replica Watches,wedding cake toppers,cake toppers,digital cameras,digital camera,digital cameras,digital camera,Mobile Phones,Mobile Phone,Cell Phones,Cell Phone,Mp3,world of warcraft power leveling,world of warcraft power leveling,power leveling wow,power leveling wow,power leveling wow,cheap wow power leveling,cheap wow power leveling,cheap wow power leveling,buy wow power leveling,buy wow power leveling,buy wow power leveling,power leveling,power leveling,power leveling,power level,power level,power level,
yakas (URL) said:
i think efficiency problem
|e-okul|
|oyun|
|e-okul|
|e-okul|
|e-okul|
螃蟹 said:
對了 這是我剛開的公司提供各款威寶電信0元手機、網內免錢聊到爽不限分鐘數,網外最低價,搭配威寶電信門號或原業者門號轉移手機0元不用錢。 提供膠原蛋白介紹、保養品訂購及系列產品介紹、諮詢。
0元手機亞太電信價格超便宜!!!!
alexia (URL) said:
640-802 The New WSJ.com: More Readers, Who Are Less Interested You think I like it like this! How about this instead!
dsadadasda said:
chat saol thanks.
loralonsa said:
gratz.muhabbet muhabbet
katerina said:
sohbet sohbet
liseli sohbet liseli sohbet
avrupa sohbet avrupa sohbet
muhabbet muhabbet
kızlarla sohbet kizlarla sohbet
Siberalem Siberalem
qsSAsaS said:
yuzuk mirc yuzuk mirc
kelebek mirc kelebek mirc indir
hehehehe said:
thanks. mirc34.net
wqkwkadk said:
gratz.
eschat.net
dsadadads said:
sohbet sohbet
ddasasddas said:
sohbet
dsadagjda said:
mirc
pearle (URL) said:
I forgot what I was gonna say. Don't look down on others. 640-802 / 642-825 / 640-863 / 70-649 / 642-444 / 70-646
mirc (URL) said:
hi thanx
very nice
mirc
komik (URL) said:
There's nothing inherent in why Digg or Google News readers don't read other WSJ stories - the WSJ itself makes it impossible for people coming from those paths to look around. komik videolar, komik, karikatür, videolar

Join the discussion



Copyright © 2008 Silicon Alley Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.