There are a plethora of paywall solutions out there and many of our clients don’t know which one to go with. Last month, we launched our Partner Ecosystem, including a whole host of amazing technology providers, to help publishers better understand their options.
As part of that initiative, we are committed to helping publishers learn more about the technology that is available to them. To get that started, we recently sat down with Bihag Karnani, Product Manager for Reader Revenue Manager, to discuss what the tool is, what features it offers (and their roadmap!) and his view on the future of paywalls.
Q1. Can you tell me a little bit about your role and what Reader Revenue Manager is?
I have been the Product Manager for Reader Revenue Manager since August of last year. My role focuses on what we should add to the product from a feature set perspective to bring more value to our customer base and to the industry in general.
Ultimately, the focus of Reader Revenue Manager has always been to serve the publishing industry, which has had its struggles for the last two decades. It's a free product built simply to enable the industry to get more paying subscribers, grow engagement or increase ad revenue.
Q2. How many publishers now use the tool? What do they use it for?
Our publisher base has grown significantly. Our official numbers show that Reader Revenue Manager now supports 5,300 publishers, up from 1,850 at the end of last year. There were two major initiatives last year that drove expansion: an integration with SiteKit for WordPress and our formal launch in India. These efforts helped us greatly exceed our goal of increasing our publisher base.
From what we've noticed, the product is being used for much more than just a paywall. It comes with several features that other paid platforms charge for, which we don't. This includes tools for newsletter sign-ups, user surveys, and creating custom calls to action.
This flexibility is driving experimentation. Traditionally, paywall-centric publishers are trying rewarded advertisements (powered by Ad Manager and AdSense) while traditionally ad-oriented publishers are now trying out a paywall. Because the friction is so low, they can easily turn it on to test an alternative revenue stream and turn it off if the strategy doesn't work out.
Q3. One of the major pain points many of our clients have is around integration. How easy is it to get Reader Revenue Manager live?
The product comes in two variants. The Enterprise variant is primarily API-driven, allowing large publishers with engineering teams to invoke the paywall and calls to action programmatically.
However, a majority of our publishers use the Standard platform, which is entirely UI/UX-driven to ensure easy implementation. Publishers only need to add one line of code to their website; everything else is handled through drag-and-drop mechanisms. The average time it takes for a publisher to get the Standard product up and running is just 5 days. This includes the Google team verifying and validating the website’s authenticity and safety.
Q4. You mentioned that Reader Revenue Manager is not just a paywall. Can you provide some examples of wider use cases?
For enterprise publishers, we offer a feature called Subscription Linking. This allows existing readers to link their publisher account with their Google account. Readers who subscribe via 'Subscribe with Google' are automatically included.
This linking mechanism enhances the reader experience on Google Search. When linked, readers search for a relevant query, a dedicated UI module called 'From your subscriptions' appears on the search results page. Readers can swipe through to see all ranked results from their subscribed publications in one place.
This feature drives tangible results. Case studies with News Corp Australia and The Indian Express showed a 30% increase in engagement for readers who used Subscription Linking through search. This cohort also exhibited a higher engagement depth with the content.
Another new feature I'm excited about is the deep integration with Google One Tap, which is coming in the first half of next year. This single-click sign-in mechanism will power the registration wall in Reader Revenue Manager, creating a better user experience by eliminating redundant pop-ups and improving the known reader phenomenon for publishers.
Q5. A lot of people are getting excited about dynamic or “intelligent” paywalls - what do you think the future of paywalls holds?
We are working on dynamic call to actions and dynamic pricing, and focusing heavily on optimising the entire reader funnel. We are deploying machine learning to determine the right call to action for a reader to see at the precise right time, completely personalised to their journey.
This journey culminates in the subscription paywall, where we'll deploy dynamic pricing to show the ideal offer at that moment. This strategy is designed to increase the chances of conversion. Our ultimate goal is always to help publishers increase revenue and grow their loyal reader base.
We're also focused on delivering some other cool features, including time-bound access passes. These are non-recurring passes that grant access to a website for a short duration—a day, a week, or a month. This is perfect for publishers covering major events, such as a World Cup or a national election, where readers want temporary, specific access. We're actively developing this feature with early interest from publishers.
Additionally, we're launching fundamental features focused on churn prevention, like options for readers to easily upgrade or downgrade their existing offers.
How can publishers get started?
Publishers without an engineering team can start onboarding immediately by visiting readerrevenue.withgoogle.com and clicking the button on the top right.
For larger enterprise publishers, they should simply reach out to their dedicated Google Account Manager or Partner Manager.
