• by Ray Schultz , February 16, 2023

Outside Online, responding to an apparent reader preference, has killed its paywall, and is taking all the content that once resided behind it and putting it “out in the open,”  Asha Demarsh,  product manager for Outside Online, wrote in a post earlier this weekend. 

The “dynamic paywall” will allow readers to taste-test and share stories.  

Demarsh continues,“Hearing your voices through surveys, social media comments, responses to emails, and other venues, a common theme emerged: a hard paywall on our most valuable stories made it too difficult to share our articles—or for new users to get to know us and understand the comprehensive value of an Outside+ membership.” 

All users can now “view a limited number of articles across Outside Online each month—and soon to be rolled out on all our sites—means you’ll no longer find certain stories blocked as premium only.” 

Demarsh, adds, “It will also mean you’ll need to at least register for a free account to continue browsing.”

Outside is also offering a new mobile app that will allow users to access all of its content. 

Watch, the video viewing content service, “has long been a walled garden similar to our premium article content. Soon we’ll make it easier for you to sample our video content library and continue to try before you buy Outside+. 

Last year, a study by Toolkits and National Research Group found that 53% of visitors attempt to bypass paywalls on publishers’ websites. And 69% avoid clicking through when they know the site has one.  Even 66% of readers who pay for at least one digital subscription attempt to get around paywalls.