Online Publishing: Wired Magazine Will Offer Ad-Free Experience for $3.99 per Month

Conde Nast's Wired Magazine will launch its ad-free website for $3.99 a month on February 16. For ad-free users, the magazine will provide more content in what had been the spaces for advertisements. 

According to Ad Age, more than one out of five people who visit the tech and business website use ad-blocking software. That poses a problem for websites, which gained money from ad revenues. The increasing use of ad-blocking hindered websites to show ads, consequently leading to a substantial decline in income. That urged online publishing companies to find another way to make money and keep the business going.

Consumerist reported that last year Conde Nast started establishing virtual walls to prevent ad-blocking software users from visiting some of its sites. The system would allow ad-blocking visitors to access the sites for $.50 for one article.

Now, the company developed another alternative for visitors who would like to enjoy its websites' contents without advertisements with a monthly fee. Wired Magazine, as part of the Conde Nast publishing company, had not taken part in the previous ad-blocking system. And the magazine will be the first website to apply this new paid system to avoid advertisements.

That is not the first time an online publishing company to apply that kind of model, that is to let visitors choose between having to see advertisements or paying for an ad-free experience. The Sydney Morning Herald noted that Google has offered a system so that websites can accept donations to deliver ad-free experiences to its visitors.

It's also reported by an advertising software company, MediaRadar, that anti ad-blocking measure was only taken by only four percent of large online publishers, despite the widespread use or ad-blocking software that would cost the websites in large potential revenues. It proves that websites still values readers more than revenues income and that the fear of alienating readers is greater that the fear of losing revenue to ad blockers, especially in this digital media where internet users can get information from many sources.

Wired explained the change of system in a note to readers. The editors wrote," Over the past 23 years, we've pushed the boundaries of media, from our print magazine to launching the first publishing website. We even invented the banner ad. We're going to continue to experiment to find new ways to bring you the stories you love and to build a healthy business that supports the storytelling. We hope you'll join us on this journey. We'd really appreciate it."

As noted, this new paid ad-free program is an experiment for the website to find out the best way to bring contents to readers in a proper way while keeping the business going. For now, the subscription is set to cost $3.99 monthly, and $1 weekly.