Hacker News Reader

Comment by nwalfield | Hacker News Reader

I tried that trick and it didn't work for me (I still get the paywall). Too bad.

It's based off of the referrer, you might have an extension or something preventing your browser from sending that. Try it in incognito mode.

FT is cloaking: http://i.imgur.com/j8dRamZ.png

Reported to Google.

I always thought that was against their policy but so many major sites do it.

@rgbrenner: I think that only shows up when you come from the Google search page, a normal link will just show the paywall with no option to bypass it.

Are sites allowed to show Googlebot the full article but show a paywall to everyone else? I think that's what was meant by cloaking.

That's google consumer surveys, and they're using it exactly how Google designed it to be used.. http://www.google.com/insights/consumersurveys/home

EDIT: article is dead.. so can't reply to your question.. but go to: http://www.google.com/insights/consumersurveys/how

and scroll down to "Watch the web answer it":

"On the web, people answer questions in exchange for access to that content, an alternative to subscribing or upgrading."

Also, if you go to: http://www.google.com/insights/consumersurveys/static/consum...

and go to page 4.. you'll see exactly the same screen as your FT image.

I realize they are also using Google's survey product. I don't see anything on that site that indicates cloaking like this is acceptable. What makes you think that?

Edit: Thanks for the reply. I agree they're saying that the survey product can be used in place of a paywall. But popping up a paywall is still cloaking. There's no indication that this grants you an exception.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com