Autosport.com

It's going down to 20.

Starting on June 1, once you have read 20 stories in a calendar month you will be asked to submit your name and email address. Once this very quick process is completed and verified you will be able to read a further 10 news stories free of charge.
 
I've been increasingly annoyed by Autosport.com recently.

As far as I'm concerned, paywalls are an absolute no-no on websites, as people aren't going to use it as a portal into starting to buy the magazine... It seems to me that there is just too much work going into the website, and not enough into trying to get conversion from the website to the magazine (or the online magazine)... (Just my opinion)
 
Haymarket which owns Autoskysport, own all three major car magazines that deal with motorsport (and autocar as well) which as pointed out above, if you want choice you're out of luck. I stopped buying the magazine at the start of the season and now hardly ever visit the website. As also has been pointed out above, there are many sources on the web where the same information can be found for free. The problem for Haymarket is clear enough, the more you squeeze your customers the more customers will just go elsewhere.
 
I don't visit them very often anymore either. Forcing the paywall after 20-30 'views' was just plain annoying. I'll just go elsewhere for my info. - oh hang on, I did that already.
 
It is a bit pointless limiting access. I use multiple devices on a regular basis so if I hit the wall with one I could still access the site from a different device and IP address. I don't read more than 10 articles a month on there usually from a link I've seen on this sites RSS feed.

I know the times has a full pay wall so if they really want people to sign up for the online magazine it's the only way to do it.
 
I have to say I think the only stuff I consistently read on there is the paid content - Mark Hughes and Dieter Rencken in particular is a good inside line on the political wrangles. And there's the non-F1 motorsport...:whistle:

Not so keen on the magazine now though, hard to put my finger on why.
 
That's the thing I miss the most, the lack of coverage of non F1 motorsport outside of Skymarket's two weekly publications (Autoskysport and Motorskysport Weekly). I subscribe to Motorsport magazine which does cover a broad base of all motorsports especially centering on the historical side of motorsport however, it's monthly so they are never ahead of the curve when it comes the latest news.

The major problem is that the market for motorsport publications is shrinking and the internet has eroded the market even further. All though it pains me to say it, you can understand why Autoskysport needs to restrict it's free access in order to make up for lost revenue. I'm sure their bean counters would have done their sums to work out the lost revenue from those people who are turned away from the site versus those who just bite the bullet and subscribe to make up for the lost access.

If another weekly publication hit the market I know I would jump at the chance to read it but sadly I don't think a) there is anyone with enough backing or will to start one and b) with the share of the market that Autoskysport now has, there is not enough room for a new player.
 
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