Foxnews website

[johnbasalla]

I hope this is an ok forum to post this. I apologize if it's not.

What's the reason (or what's the "game") for this? On the Foxnews website, to read certain stories there's a printed notice that says you can read this story for free(!). "plus get unlimited access to thousands of articles, videos and more with your free account!". Then, it asks you to enter your email address. To access the stories, you would go to your email and get the stories there, not from the Foxnews website. I haven't done this. The only thing this is likely to do is to lower the amount of time I spend on Foxnews.com.

 

[Mikey Radio]

I hope this is an ok forum to post this. I apologize if it's not.

What's the reason (or what's the "game") for this? On the Foxnews website, to read certain stories there's a printed notice that says you can read this story for free(!). "plus get unlimited access to thousands of articles, videos and more with your free account!". Then, it asks you to enter your email address. To access the stories, you would go to your email and get the stories there, not from the Foxnews website. I haven't done this. The only thing this is likely to do is to lower the amount of time I spend on Foxnews.com.

It may be a form of marketing..Meaning, they're tracking to see what kinds of stories you read or subjects you're most interested in. They can then use that data to target you with more stories and information they believe you might like, while also pushing advertisements from businesses that might appeal to you based on your reading/viewing preferences.

 

[speer360]

Example?

 

[johnbasalla]

Go to Foxnews.com. There's always a combination of this type of story and ones that do not ask you to use your email address.
Anyway, on this morning of 01/12/2024, the top story is one:

House joins Senate, strikes down Biden EV charger rule protecting Chinese companies.​

Published January 11, 2024 7:42pm EST
Read this article for free!
Plus get unlimited access to thousands of articles, videos and more with your free account!
By entering your email, you are agreeing to Fox News Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, which includes our Notice of Financial Incentive. To access the content, check your email and follow the instructions provided.

 

[kevtronics]

That's a perfect example of how Fox News slants headlines to fit their political agenda. That wasn't a "Biden EV charger rule protecting Chinese companies". It was a temporary waiver of the requirements of a minimum of 55% American-made parts in government-funded electric chargers, which was going to expire in July anyway:

House votes to overturn Biden's 'Buy America' waiver for EV chargers

The Biden Administration's electric vehicle rollout has been engulfed in political opposition and scrutiny. See who voted to overturn their 'Buy America' waiver.

www.washingtonexaminer.com

 

[TheBigA]

What's the reason (or what's the "game") for this? On the Foxnews website, to read certain stories there's a printed notice that says you can read this story for free(!). "plus get unlimited access to thousands of articles, videos and more with your free account!".

They're harvesting your personal data. Once they have your email address, they can resell it to other services who send you spam.

https://www.privacypolicies.com/blog/create-display-do-not-sell-my-personal-information-page/

When you engage with them and do this voluntarily, you give them permission.

 

[johnbasalla]

The question for this forum is why is Foxnews.com making some stories only available by free subscription through viewers email addresses and others available 'the-old-fashioned-way", which is simply going to the website and reading the whole story there.
Mikey Radio's post is relevant. I am hoping that somebody with inside knowledge may be able to share.

 

[radiofan2023]

@TheBigA Just gave you the answer:
They're harvesting your personal data. Once they have your email address, they can resell it to other services who send you spam.

If you don't like it, stop going to the website that does it.

 

[TheBigA]

The question for this forum is why is Foxnews.com making some stories only available by free subscription through viewers email addresses

It says "free subscription," but is there advertising in the story? Once a company reaches a certain number of subscribers, they can sell that audience to advertisers. Fox News did a story on it:

Why does everyone seem to want your email address?

Many companies ask for your email address, and use it to track your data. Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson shows your how to keep your privacy safe with these tips.

www.foxnews.com

 

[Don CT]

It says "free subscription," but is there advertising in the story? Once a company reaches a certain number of subscribers, they can sell that audience to advertisers. Fox News did a story on it:

Why does everyone seem to want your email address?

Many companies ask for your email address, and use it to track your data. Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson shows your how to keep your privacy safe with these tips.

www.foxnews.com

Isn't it ironic, don't ya think.

 

[johnbasalla]

@TheBigA Just gave you the answer:
They're harvesting your personal data. Once they have your email address, they can resell it to other services who send you spam.

If you don't like it, stop going to the website that does it.

Unless I'm missing something, going to the website and reading stories, as always, that are there is not a problem. Only if a person were to place their email address for stories that require that is at issue. Giving them an email address is something I'm not inclined to do.

 

[Mikey Radio]

Unless I'm missing something, going to the website and reading stories, as always, that are there is not a problem. Only if a person were to place their email address for stories that require that is at issue. Giving them an email address is something I'm not inclined to do.

Correct. While websites can use cookies and other trackers to target ads to you based on searches you've done, links you've clicked on, sites you've visited, etc. once you clear your web browser's cache and dump all the history and cookies, all that should go away. Now, if you give them your e-mail address and they can link all your reading/viewing history to that, then that's a different story.

 

[fybush]

Pretty simple rule for any media, but especially digital: unless you're paying your own cash for the product you're consuming, you (or at least your data and your eyeballs) are the product being sold to someone else.

Opting in by giving Fox News your email address gives them more opportunities to market to you, but I promise you that even without having your email, they know plenty about you from your browsing habits, cookies, and everything that data aggregators have put together about you.