Set up content access prompt

You can use the "Content access" tab in Publisher Center to:

• Set up your content access strategy.
• Explore a reader’s experience on your site.
• Customize messages in prompts presented to your readers.

Content access prompts include:

• Paywall: Sell subscriptions that give readers access to gated content.
• Contributions request: Request voluntary one-time or recurring payments from readers.
• Surveys: Collect first-party data from your readers with surveys to improve target advertisements and user experiences.
• Newsletter sign-up: Prompt readers to sign up for a newsletter and collect email addresses.
• Reader registration: Turn new readers into registered readers, grant access to premium content, and collect email addresses.
• Metering: Give metered access to premium content for new users or users who register with their Google Accounts.

Tip: If your content access strategy involves payments from readers, you can implement either a paywall or a contributions request.

Set up a paywall

You can set up a paywall during your initial set-up or add it later on. To set up a paywall:

1. Go to Publisher Center.
2. Under “Content access,” click Overview.
3. Next to ”Paywall,” click +Select & proceed.
4. Complete the required fields to create pricing for your content:
   • Plan name: The name of your pricing plan.
   • Billing period: The length of the subscription.
     • Select from: Monthly, Quarterly, Half-yearly, or Annually.
   • Trial period: You can choose to offer temporary access at no charge.
     • Select from: No trial period, 7 days, 14 days, 30 days, or 60 days.
   • Price: The cost per billing period.
   • Benefits: List up to 3 reasons why readers should subscribe. This section doesn’t influence functionality on your site.
5. Click Next: finish up.
6. Add a Product ID.
   • A Product ID is required to add to posts in your publication’s content management system. If you plan to sell only one type of subscription, use the same Product ID for all pricing plans. If you’d like to sell multiple subscriptions for different types of content, you should create one product ID per content type. For example, one for news and one for sports.
7. To add a pricing plan to your site, you must set it to “Live.”

Learn how to offer content at no charge.

Set up a contributions request

You can set up a contributions request at initial set-up or add it later on. To set up a contributions request:

1. Go to Publisher Center.
2. Under “Content access,” click Overview.
3. Next to ”Contributions request,” click +Select & proceed.

To set up your contributions pricing, you must choose a price combined with a recurrence period. At initial setup, you can add one-time and monthly contribution amounts. It’s possible to add extra recurrence periods such as annual amounts later on. You don’t need to turn on one-time and monthly amounts.

1. Complete the required fields:
   • Price: The cost per billing period.
   • Benefits: List up to 3 reasons why readers should contribute. This section doesn’t influence functionality on your site.
2. To add a pricing plan to your site, you must set it to “Live.”

Collect first-party data using surveys

You can collect first-party data about your readers with surveys. When you add surveys to your site with Reader Revenue Manager, readers will be prompted to answer a short series of questions before content can be accessed. You can use survey data to:

• Gain insights about your readers to create relevant content
• Improve your Ad revenue through optimized targeting by automatic integration with Google Ad Manager

To set up surveys:

1. Go to Publisher Center.
2. Under “Content access,” click Overview.
3. Next to ”Surveys,” select +Add.
4. Select up to 3 questions from the question catalog.
   • For some questions, you may be asked to select at least 2 answers.
   • Tip: You can also implement custom survey questions that have at least 2-5 answers. To implement a custom survey question:
     1. Select +Create new.
     2. Enter your question and answers.
     3. You can add a category which appears in your Google Analytics account.
5. Customize your prompt with a display title that lets your readers know why they should complete the survey.
6. Verify your Google Analytics account in Publisher Center.
7. Select Activate prompt.
8. To optimize your ads based on survey responses, opt-in to automatic integration with Google Ad Manager.
   • Enter your Google Ad Manager network code. Learn how to find your Google Ad Manager network code.

Next, to find your results, you need to set up custom dimensions in Google Analytics. Learn more about custom dimensions in GA4.

1. In Google Analytics 4, click Settings .
2. From the property dropdown, click Custom definitions.
3. Create a custom dimension for survey questions:
   • Dimension name: “Survey question”
   • Event parameter: “survey_question”
4. Create a custom dimension for survey answers:
   • Dimension name: “Survey answer”
   • Event parameter: “survey_answer”
5. If you find the 2 dimensions in the custom dimensions table, your setup is complete.

If you manage GA4 events with Google Tag Manager, you can also set up a GA4 event with Tag Manager. However, we recommend you use the Google Analytics script directly for an easier setup.

Tip: You can find your survey data in your Google Analytics account. Learn how to find your survey results.

Create a newsletter sign-up form

You can set up a newsletter sign-up form at initial set-up or add it later on. To set up a newsletter sign-up form:

1. Go to Publisher Center.
2. Under “Content access,” click Overview.
3. Next to “Newsletter signup,” select +Add.
4. Fill out all required fields for the newsletter sign-up prompt:
   • Title: Title that the users find when the prompt displays.
   • Description: Description that the users find when the prompt displays.
   • Optional: To add a consent box before a user signs up for newsletters, select Show a consent box. Then, add a consent description.
     • If the consent checkbox is added, users can’t proceed with the newsletter signup unless they give consent.
5. Add the display and configuration details.
6. To add the newsletter sign-up to your site, select Make Live.

Set up reader registration

You can set up reader registration at initial set-up or add it later on. To set up reader registration:

1. Go to Publisher Center.
2. Under “Content access,” tab, click Overview.
3. Next to “Reader registration,” select +Add.
4. Fill out all required fields for the reader registration prompt.
   • Title: Title that the users find when the prompt displays.
   • Body text: Description that the users find when the prompt displays.
   • Optional: To add a consent box before a user registers, select Show a consent box. Then, add a consent description.
     • If the consent checkbox is added, users can’t proceed with reader registration unless they give consent.
5. Add the display and configuration details.
6. To turn on the reader registration tool on your site, select Activate prompt.
   • This prompt isn’t dismissible, and readers will be required to register to access content.

Set up metered paywalls for readers

For new readers:

To increase subscription conversion, you can set up metered access to content for new readers.

To set up reads at no cost for new readers:

1. Go to Publisher Center.
2. In the “Content access” tab, click Overview.
3. Next to ”Free-of-charge articles for new readers,” select +Add.
4. Enter details about your meter, including:
   • Body text: Description that the users find when the meter displays.
   • Number of premium articles to unlock: The number of reads at no cost that you want to give to new users.
   • Recurring validity: How often the counter resets for the remainder of the user’s unlocked premium articles. The maximum is 7 days.
5. To turn on the meter on your site, select Activate prompt.

For registered readers:

Before registered readers purchase a subscription, you can offer access to some restricted content at no cost.

To set up reads at no cost for registered readers:

1. Go to Publisher Center.
2. In the “Content Access” tab, click Overview.
3. Next to “Free-of-charge articles for registered readers,” select +Add.
4. Enter details about your meter:
   • Body text: Description that the users find when the meter displays.
   • Number of premium articles to unlock: The number of reads at no cost that you want to give to registered users.
   • Recurring validity: How often the counter resets for the remainder of the user’s unlocked premium articles. The maximum is 7 days.
5. To turn on the meter for registered readers on your site, select Activate prompt.

Related resources

• Get started with Reader Revenue Manager
• Get help with Reader Revenue Manager