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You are viewing article 0 of 4 free articles this month.

Does this mean that they for some reason start counting at zero, or is this article freely available? I really don't get it.

edit: After a reload it now says:

You are viewing article 1 of 4 free articles this month.

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Strangely enough, this tactic has made me much less inclined to click links for the New York Times, the Washington Post, or any other online publication that uses paywalls. I think, "Hmm, I only have 3 free articles left this month, I don't want to waste one of them on this particular article" and therefore I end up never reading any articles at all.

I assume they keep track of it using cookies, so it's easily avoided.

the NYT uses cookies, but the WaPo uses some other means.

i also avoid clicking these links, even if i know i probably won't reach paywall limit that month.. its psychological :)

i like the Guardian model better, no paywall. now considering a paid subscription out of sheer appreciation for that

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