Marketshare Times websites plunge after compulsory registration

Already research demonstrates the impact of the first two steps towards introducing a paywall for the online versions of the British newspaper The Times. Since the Times requests its visitors to register, the sites’ market share has dropped from 4.37 to 2.67 percent. 

Earlier we wrote that The Times publisher, News International, will no longer offer its news articles online for free, but instead make them available behind a paywall. News International as a result factors a significant decrease in the number of readers, yet continues to put up the paywall because it needs the extra income from paying visitors. Also a paywall prevents search engines like Google to index the Times news articles and distribute them through their own news services.

Installing the paywall takes place in several phases. First users were only requested to (freely) register for a trial account through MyTimes+, while the news articles were also still available without registering. From the middle of last week though, Times' news articles are only accessible after registering for a trial account. Since then  market share has dropped to an even lower 1.81 percent:

Newspapers that compete with the Times take advantage of this:

Some time later (probably the end of the month), News International will introduce the final phase when the free trial accounts expire and only paid accounts will give access to the Times websites. That will probably provide an even greater downfall of visitors.

Source: Hitwise