Paywalls Boost Ad Rates for Some Magazines and Newspapers, OPA Study Finds

Online paywalls are helping some newspaper and magazine websites increase the ad rates they charge, according to a new report from the Online Publishers Association.

It's a hopeful sign for publishers that have hesitated to erect paywalls, despite the potential to generate new revenue from readers, for fear of hurting traffic and ad revenue in turn. "This report demystified the concept that subscription models would have a negative impact on the ad growth," said Pam Horan, president of the OPA, whose report examined nine of its members that use some form of paywall, including Time, The New York Times and The Financial Times. "We saw consistently that our members were having a very successful advertising business while growing their subscription business." Paywalls help increase ad rates partly because publishers capture valuable "first-party" data on subscribers as they sign up, the report suggested. "They're finding that these models give them additional insights into their readers," Horan said. "They're using data as an asset to understand consumer behavior and help marketers target these audiences and design the right products."