Paywall per word

I’ve long been an advocate of reading news that is grounded in financial markets, as it is more neutral and a better arbiter of truth (ie, follow the money). I read a mix of The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and the Financial Times to get a mix of American and internal political views. Anyways, this isn’t a politics newsletter, it’s just funny designs.

Over the weekend I noticed Bloomberg made their paywall a lot more aggressive, you have to pay $2 to read an article (even a snippet) and this auto-enrolls you in ongoing payments. Smart, but diabolical. What if there were an option to pay on a per word basis? As you read, you can continually unlock words until you’ve gathered the context you need.

This would be an experiential nightmare, however the idea of one-off, small purchases for news publishers does feel like it has value. Yes, obviously a subscription is more beneficial for the publication, but $0.20 here or there for an article is interesting and I could see some people embracing this model. Doubtful anyone will build it though.

Have a friend who pays for their news? Send them this newsletter. https://sorens.beehiiv.com/