Pitchfork · B2C · music review site
Make readers register to read a site that was always free
Backlash the next day; wall taken down to reset the product first
Failedpaywall
What they did
Put up a registration wall for certain Pitchfork visitors. A big editorial announcement the next day drew backlash about the new wall, so the team removed it entirely, paused, and planned to re-monetize after fixing the editorial product. Guest says walking it back earned goodwill.
What happened
Heavy backlash; the registration wall was removed and monetization paused.
- Effort
- live for about a day
In their words
Sub Club by RevenueCat · How Condé Nast Experiments, Bundles, and Wins — Michael Ribero, Condé Nast“We put up a reg wall, registration wall for certain folks. The next day, there was a big announcement on the editorial side, and the backlash that we got of, "You're going to put up this reg wall to now make us register when it was completely free before and now you're doing all these changes."”
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