Argus-Courier launches online ‘pay meter’

Frequent visitors to the petaluma360.com website will soon need to either become subscribing members to obtain full access to unlimited online content or subscribe to the Petaluma Argus-Courier newspaper.

The new “pay meter” system is similar to what many other media websites have instituted over the last several years, including The Press Democrat, in order to increase revenue from online readers and reduce reliance on advertising.

Petaluma360.com website visitors who are already subscribers of the Petaluma Argus-Courier will have full access to all website content without additional payment, but they will need to create a user account and log in.

“Unlike many community newspapers, which have cut back on the quantity of their local news coverage, we have worked hard to maintain the level of professional reporting desired by our steadily growing print and online readership in Petaluma,” said Publisher John Burns. “But in order to preserve and expand our award-winning coverage of the community, we need the financial support from our online readers. We very much appreciate the support given to local journalism by our current subscribers, and hope our online readers will be similarly supportive.”

Visitors to the petaluma360.com website will be able to view 15 stories per month before being required to pay. Not all content counts toward the limit; views of the photo galleries, blogs, events calendar, obituaries and movie listings and are all exempt. Return visits to a story already viewed also do not count.

Readers will be able to choose between a monthly digital subscription, starting at $2.25 per month, or a print and digital subscription for $4.15 per month (which includes delivery of the Petaluma Argus-Courier to those living in Sonoma County).

The pay meter system is now in operation, but visitors should not encounter it for several days or weeks, depending on the number of stories they typically view. An opportunity to subscribe will appear after five stories have been viewed, and will repeat when ten stories are viewed.

In 2016, petaluma360.com has averaged 683,000 monthly page views and attracts more than 91,000 unique visitors each month, most of them from the immediate local area.

Readers with questions or who are having difficulty registering their accounts should call customer service at 763-2033.