New York Times to limit mobile readers to three free articles per day

The New York Times is slowly reducing the amount of content that nonsubscribers can see for free. The paper announced today that readers using the mobile website and apps will be able to access just three articles a day before being cut off, starting June 27th. Previously, mobile readers could access 10 to 15 articles a day from the paper’s “Top News” section for free. Mobile readers still have a better deal than web readers, who are limited to 10 free articles a month.

The Times also announced a week-long free trial to boost sales of its apps. Digital subscriptions cost between $15 and $35 a month, a steep price compared to digital content services such as Netflix ($8 a month) and Pandora ($36 a year). The Times seems spendy even compared to The Wall Street Journal, which charges its well-heeled audience $22 a month for a digital-only subscription.

The Times’ very public paywall experiment is being closely watched by publishers around the country, many of whom are considering similar plans to solve their own money woes. The paper’s base of paywall subscribers is growing, although the pace recently slowed; pressuring mobile users to subscribe may reverse that trend.