Fewer than nine months after requiring users to register to its Web site, The Boston Globe’s boston.com celebrated the holiday season by topping the 1 million registered user mark.

Boston.com implemented the registration requirement last April, using internally developed authentication software, said Stephanie Shore, director of marketing. Prior to that, ever since boston.com was launched in 1995, the site’s contents were accessible without restriction.

Stephanie Shore
Director of Marketing, Boston.com
Photo: Boston.com

The newspaper (daily, 451,310; Sunday, 696,610) had a voluntary registration that went in effect two weeks before the technical requirement began.

“The biggest difference between our system and others is the flexible threshold that we employ,” Shore said. “What it means is that we are able to dial up or dial down the number of page views that someone sees on any given day or any given time.”

Dynamic approach

Once that editor-selected threshold is breached, the server system requires the Web browser accessing the pages to register. If the user is already registered and logged in (either through that session or through a stored cookie) then the experience is seamless and the user never sees a change when the threshold point is crossed. Shore said Boston.com’s online editor Teresa Hanafin decides on an individual story basis how many “unregistered” page views to allow. Breaking news and breaking sports stories are often keyed to permit a higher threshold of anonymous page views in order to encourage overall site traffic. For example, in October 2005, Boston.com served up 156 million page views, ranking that month as the third best in site history in terms of traffic, Shore said.

Data profiles user

Typical information included in internal site traffic reports released to advertisers includes data such as gender, income, industry, DMA, and work vs. home ZIP codes depending on the user’s browser location, Shore said. This data is obtained by associating the information that is obtained during the time of registration with an individual user’s Web browser and is thus location-sensitive, providing valuable “work vs. home” access information.

The Globe also matches a Web user’s information to that of a zoned print edition through use of the ZIP-code data.

This increased granularity of user experience allows The Globe to offer Web advertisers sharply targeted campaigns, mirroring the concept of print delivery zones. An advertiser could, for example, select a Web ad to appear only on pages delivered to a specific ZIP code during a certain time of day; useful to a restaurant advertising lunch specials in a specific part of the city, or to car dealers serving particular areas. Shore said several Web ad campaigns have been sold using that level of targeting.

Mix of promotions

To reach that 1 millionth registered user, Boston.com used a mix of traditional and non-traditional media in promoting the paper’s Web site.

Shore said Boston.com plans to refine the ad-targeted software over the next several months, allowing advertisers to purchase slots based on a wider number of variables. The site will also make it easier for users to find more Boston-specific information about events and area entertainment.