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July 7, 2010, 2:25 p.m.

Time shifts online strategy, lays first bricks of paywall

Last night we wrote about Time magazine’s removal of full-length magazine stories from its website. Readers now get an abridged version paired with a pitch for the print edition or Time’s iPad app. This raised an existential question for us: If you can’t pay for the content, but it’s behind a wall, is it fair to say that Time has erected a paywall?

That question waits for another day, since we just heard back from a Time spokesperson, Betsy Goldin. Goldin tells us in an email that “there is a plan in place for being able to purchase articles online.” So, a classic paywall. Details on payment structure TK.

Other content on Time’s site will remain free, including their new aggregation-heavy NewsFeed and its blogs. Goldin says 90 percent of the content that appears on the site is web exclusive.

Meanwhile, their iPad app, where issues are priced the same as a newsstand copy of Time at $4.99, also runs exclusive content, like videos, slideshows, and other content. It does not include the web-exclusive articles and posts. So, if you’re the sort of person who wants everything Time has to offer, you’ll have to go at least two places.

POSTED     July 7, 2010, 2:25 p.m.
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