The technological war to bypass paywalls: the business dilemma of the news industry

In today’s increasingly digital content landscape, the legal controversy sparked by the browser plugin Bypass Paywall Clean (BPC) has once again brought the business crisis faced by the news industry into the spotlight. This technical dispute over bypassing paywalls actually reflects the deep-rooted dilemma of the media industry—under the dual pressures of sharply declining advertising revenue and low user willingness to pay, how should media outlets survive?

The Legal Clash Starting from a Plugin

Users’ desire for free information has led to a series of browser extensions capable of bypassing paywall restrictions. These tools typically circumvent media’s soft paywalls by clearing cookies, disabling JavaScript, or simulating web crawlers, allowing users to access full content without subscriptions.

In August 2024, GitHub, responding to complaints from the News Media Alliance (NMA), fully blocked BPC and its 3,879 repositories. NMA represents over 2,200 news, magazine, and digital media publishers, accusing BPC of violating Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)—not only involving copyright infringement but also illegal circumvention of content protection measures.

After reviewing the complaint and conducting its own investigation, GitHub deemed NMA’s claims justified and ultimately disabled all related repositories. This dealt a heavy blow to BPC’s developers and user community and marked a victory for the news industry in defending its interests in the digital age.

The Technical Dilemma of Paywalls

It is worth noting that the paywall technology used by mainstream media such as Bloomberg and The New York Times is actually quite “basic.” These restrictions mainly rely on front-end techniques—using JavaScript or cookies in the browser to control user access—rather than robust back-end encryption verification. This mechanism is not technically sophisticated; it’s more like a “fence” that assumes most users will follow the rules rather than setting up difficult-to-crack encryption defenses.

This reflects the media’s dilemma: on one hand, they need paywalls to protect subscription revenue; on the other hand, they dare not completely block access—full blocking would hinder search engine indexing, damage SEO performance, and thus impact organic traffic and advertising income. Therefore, paywalls have become a subtle psychological game between media and users, rather than a true technical barrier.

The Harsh Reality of News Monetization

According to data from Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, only 17% of people worldwide are willing to pay for online news—an increase from 10% a decade ago, but progress remains disappointing. In the US market, the paid subscriber ratio is 22%, meaning nearly 80% of Americans never pay for news content.

Even more discouraging is a survey by All About Cookies: 70% of respondents said they would avoid websites with paywalls, and 60% “often look for ways to access paid content for free.” In contrast, 69% of Americans have used someone else’s streaming service account, and among them, 80% do not consider password sharing to be theft. This indicates that in the digital era, users are far more accepting of sharing and free content than paying for individual services.

Even among audiences claiming to be “very” or “extremely” interested in news, 57% refuse to pay for online news. This reveals a brutal fact: while there is demand for high-quality journalism, converting that demand into willingness to pay is extremely challenging.

The Multiple Predicaments Facing the News Industry

TechRadar’s U.S. Editor-in-Chief Lance Ulanoff once said, “The era of free websites is coming to an end, and there’s nothing you can do about it.” However, the crisis faced by the news industry is far more than low pay conversion rates. Producing quality journalism is costly—from short news briefs and in-depth product reviews to investigative reports and video production, each requires substantial editorial and technical investment.

Adding to the difficulty, the proliferation of ad blockers has led to a continuous decline in online ad revenue, which was a major income source for news sites. Traditional media outlets like CNN.com are struggling, as younger audiences increasingly turn to platforms like YouTube and TikTok for news. A two-minute TikTok video, though lacking the depth of professional journalism, is more trusted by young people, resulting in significant traffic shifting from traditional news sites to social media.

This phenomenon has prompted deep reflection within the news industry. Margaret Sullivan, Executive Director of the Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Security at Columbia Journalism School, finds paywalls “complicated”—she is also tired of being asked to pay every time she visits different media sites, and admits, “I get angry when I encounter paywalls.” Her attitude reflects that even within the journalism field, many are troubled by paywalls.

Data Reveals the Business Truth

To understand the actual effects of different paywall strategies, data analytics firm Mather Economics conducted an in-depth study of 118 news media websites. Between March 2023 and March 2024, they tracked the performance changes before and after implementing various paywall approaches.

The study divided publishers into two groups: the “closed group” (limiting free articles, resulting in more visitors encountering paywalls) and the “open group” (allowing more free content, with fewer visitors facing paywalls). The results were quite revealing:

User and Traffic Trends: Both groups experienced traffic declines, but the closed group’s drop was steeper. From August 2023, the gap in page views widened significantly; from October 2023, differences in user numbers also became apparent.

Conversion Rates and Revenue: Although the paywall conversion rate was lower in the closed group, its larger brand presence and user base meant that per million users, the conversion rate was actually higher than in the open group. The open group, with more free content, saw higher engagement and thus higher conversion rates.

Subscription Growth and User Retention: The closed group saw an average growth of 46% in new subscriptions, which seems promising. However, this came at the cost of lower user retention, meaning a higher risk of user churn. Conversely, the open group needed to maintain a higher retention rate—around 85% in the first year and 63% over two years—to reach the same subscription levels.

Long-term Impact on Advertising Revenue: Due to declining page views, the closed group’s ad revenue was significantly impacted after several months. The open group, with a more moderate decline in visitors, experienced a slower decrease in ad income.

The Dilemma of the Future Path

This study exposes the core dilemma of the news industry: there is no perfect solution.

Aggressive subscription strategies (“closed group”) can generate substantial new subscriptions and revenue growth in the short term but carry the risks of accelerating user churn and long-term declines in ad revenue. Conversely, a more lenient paywall (“open group”) can improve user experience and overall engagement but requires more effort in user retention and pricing strategies to achieve comparable revenue levels.

Regardless of the approach, news organizations share a common responsibility—to fully demonstrate the value of their content to audiences and explain why these news stories are worth paying for. In fact, a significant portion of users are willing to pay for quality journalism, but most remain unconvinced.

This also explains why tools like Bypass Paywall Clean continue to emerge. User circumvention of paywalls is not fundamentally a moral issue but a reflection that the news industry has yet to establish a compelling value proposition. In this era of information overload, high-quality journalism does exist, but how to effectively communicate its value to users and ultimately convert that into subscription willingness remains the ultimate challenge facing the media industry.