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Financial Times to allow free access from Google to stories
The Financial Times (FT) is partnering with Google and 30 other partner websites for a 'First Click Free' programme that will allow users to access one free story from the FT without affecting the quota of free stories users receive when they register. Earlier this month, FT.com announced it would offer readers 30 free stories each month in a bid to boost traffic, advertising revenues and subscribers, representing a partial u-turn on its policy of charging users for online content. The new service was beta-tested overseas and will launch worldwide in mid-Oct. The current service where only non-business news stories and analysis are free, and business news becomes subscription-only after 24 hours, will be abandoned. The new model will allow users access to the first five articles for free followed by a "light-touch registration," whereby users receive up to 30 free stories per month. Users will then need to subscribe to read further articles. Under the new scheme, partner sites guarantee that their users do not reach the free-usage quota by following their links to FT.com. Josh Cohen, business product manager for Google News, commented: "We're pleased they are using 'First Click Free' to ensure we can include their content in all of Google's search results, and to ensure our users always get access to the FT stories they are looking for."
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