Visit Our Website, Darnit!

I've noticed a new trend in e-newsletters, one that is sure to irritate readers:

Only part of the newsletter's content is in the email sent to readers; the remainder is on the publication's Web site. Cadalyst and InfoWorld are two publications doing this.

Here's what happens: you start reading an interesting article; the article ends abruptly after 2-3 paragraphs. To finish reading the article, you are forced to click on a link that takes you to the publication's Web site.

(This differs from summary newsletters sent by PC World and Tenlinks.com. These contain pure links or links with a one-sentence summaries. I don't mind them.)

The idea behind remaindered e-newsletters is that the reader hasn't seen enough ads yet. Force us to the Web site in order to (1) view more ads; and (2) plump up the Web site stats. The tactic is even worse that those Web sites that chop up articles into multiple pages.

Note to the editors at Cadalyst and Infoworld: it's always a mistake to give readers what the publisher and advertising manager want.

Comments

[Evan Yares]

I don't understand why you have a problem with this. If you want...

(To read the rest of this message, please go to my website.)