Paywall now on Republic website

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Beginning today, readers on therepublic.com may notice a change to their experience.

The Republic is launching what is known as a metered paywall.

Newspaper subscribers who have already registered — or are receiving the newspaper’s eNewsletter — with an email address should not experience any disruptions. Those who have not yet registered will be prompted to do so in a very simple process. Customer service personnel are available to help any readers needing assistance.

Non-subscribers will be permitted three free stories in a 30-day period. After that, they will be prompted to register and provide an email address. At that point, they will receive an additional two stories in that 30-day window.

Commenting on stories will also be an option on the new website. We believe readers will find conversations there more engaging, helpful and meaningful on the newspaper’s site than on social media.

Like many newspaper publishers, the Republic launched its website onto the World Wide Web with enthusiasm and hope, excited to be offering readers another way to read local news and hopeful advertising revenue from the website would sustain the venture.

Digital readership has succeeded beyond our vision and continues to grow. Digital revenue growth has, unfortunately, not grown at the same pace. In large part, the slow growth of digital revenue is the result of two companies, Google and Facebook. The duopoly controls roughly 70% of all digital advertising revenue on the Internet. AIM Media Indiana is part of a lawsuit challenging the monopolization of digital revenue by those two companies.

An enhanced reader experience on the newspaper’s website and replica edition (e-edition), is available in 12 different languages, representing AIM Media Indiana’s commitment to providing more access to the community in different formats.