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Glossary
Publisher glossary
Plain-English definitions of the paywall, subscription and reader-revenue terms publishers use.
A
C
D
F
G
H
I
L
M
O
P
R
S
T
W
A
Annual plan
A subscription billed yearly rather than monthly.
ARPU (average revenue per user)
Average recurring revenue per subscriber.
ARR (annual recurring revenue)
The annualised value of recurring subscription revenue.
C
Churn
The rate at which subscribers cancel or lapse.
Click-through rate (CTR)
The share of newsletter recipients who click a link.
Contribution model
Readers pay voluntarily to support journalism that stays free.
D
Dunning
The automated recovery of failed subscription payments.
Dynamic paywall
A paywall whose rules adapt to each reader's likelihood of subscribing.
F
First-party data
Audience data a publisher collects and owns directly.
Freemium
Some content stays free forever; premium work is subscriber-only.
G
Gross vs net churn
Subscribers lost vs losses offset by expansion.
H
Hard paywall
A paywall that locks almost all content behind a subscription.
I
Involuntary churn
Subscribers lost to failed payments, not cancellations.
L
Lead magnet
Something valuable offered in exchange for an email.
LTV (subscriber lifetime value)
Total revenue expected from a subscriber over their lifetime.
M
Membership vs subscription
Paying for access vs paying to support and belong.
Metered paywall
Lets readers see a set number of free articles before the wall appears.
MRR (monthly recurring revenue)
Predictable subscription revenue earned each month.
O
Open rate
The share of newsletter recipients who open an email.
P
Paid newsletter
A newsletter readers pay to receive, or a subscriber-only edition.
Paywall
A system that restricts online content until a reader pays or subscribes.
Propensity modelling
Using reader data to estimate likelihood to subscribe.
R
Reader revenue
Money from your audience (subscriptions, memberships, contributions) rather than advertisers.
Registration wall
Asks readers for an email, not payment, to continue.
S
Structured data
Schema.org code that tells search engines what a page is.
T
Tiered pricing
Offering subscriptions at several price points.
W
WordPress
The CMS behind a large share of publishers.
