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The website for Scottish titles the Herald, Evening Times and Sunday Herald has introduced a paywall to its content, allowing access to 10 articles a month before introducing a subscription charge. In a statement on the website the group's digital director Mark Smith outlines the recent changes to the site, which he says also include "more contributors, improved layout, a new politics section" and the paywall.

Under the subscription model each user will be able to access up to 10 articles on the site each month before they will be asked to pay £2.99, which will cover continued access for four weeks.

"We think that's tremendous value, value that will only be enhanced as we add sections and features to the site, bringing you more and more quality journalism by Scots and for Scots," he added in the announcement.

"Our ambition is simple: to provide the best and most comprehensive digital experience for anyone interested in what's happening in Scotland."

The Herald and Times Group, which is owned by Newsquest, revealed in August in an interview with the Drum that it would bring in subscriptions for its website.

Speaking to Journalism.co.uk today Smith said the company had carried out research prior to launch to find out the opinions of existing users and what they would be "willing to pay".

He said that "the difficulty is we don't want to shut down advertising revenue" but based on research felt the model had found the "right balance" which would maintain page impressions and advertising while introducing a new revenue stream.

"This is the future", he added.

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Written by
Rachel Bartlett

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