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Comment by hedora | Hacker News Reader

Add to that the fact that the NYT won’t let me read the story because my browser is in private mode, but regularly runs features about the Chinese surveillance state.

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It won't let you read it because you're not signed in correct? I haven't had an issue with private browsing and reading the 5 or so free articles a month that they offer.

http://tinypic.com/r/2u5dgyv/9

Ironically, I had to turn off ad block to view it. Does anyone know of a better service like this?

[edit: the screenshot is for a different article, but I get the same spy-wall on the one linked above]

I just use uMatrix to disable anything except CSS and images. Articles work fine for me that way.

Oh, so it was adblock that was the problem. I was confused, since I knew NYT works in incognito mode.

Can you really blame them for blocking Adblock users? They're a business, if you're both not logged in (ie, not a subscriber) and blocking ads, you're preventing them from capturing any revenue. How do you suggest the New York Times stays in business?

Native ads and subscriptions, the same thing that worked for 150 years.

If you’re not logged in, you’re not (verifiably) a subscriber, so I’m not sure how that’s relevent.

I for one would much rather NYT block adblock users than increase their reliance on native ads. Also, native ads are relatively new, what do you mean “for 150 years”?

Native ads are what print newspapers have, and they don't require logins. They'd just charge Chevrolet $50,000 to run a skyscraper on sports articles for a week or whatever.

Print newspapers don't require logins because you can't read a print paper unless you already purchased it. To replicate that online, a login is necessary.

I was under the impression the New York Times didn't allow companies to pay for custom articles until recently, but I could be wrong. Do you know when this happened?

>you can't read a print paper unless you already purchased it

That's not true, and there is a publishing industry term for it: "pass-along." It's used to calculate readership for...advertising rates.

Apparently Native Ads means something else: having your own adtech on the website, rather than doubleclick or whatever.

Sorry, I was referring to "sponsored stories", or other paid content that is not immediately recognizable as an ad. This is often referred to as "Native Advertising" in the industry.

Correct. No targeting data (not that it works) or 3rd party complications, no RTB B.S., etc.

They want to make money, and to limit the number of articles consumed without paying. The way to do that is to have a cookie that tracks it on the client. That is not evil, or for bad ends.

Use firefox, and while the page text loads click on the "Reader View" before the pop-up loads.

https://prod-cdn.sumo.mozilla.net/uploads/gallery/images/201...

The article loads fine for me in private mode.

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