For subscription publishers, the prospect of subscribers sharing login credentials with non-paying users can be a concerning one.
Password sharing is often a strong indicator of a highly valuable product. (Arguably, the only thing worse than subscribers sharing passwords is subscribers not sharing passwords). But the potential for lost revenue and the notion that audiences are “pirating” content can be frustrating nonetheless.
Widespread password sharing can present a significant risk for publishers if left unchecked, resulting in diminished subscription revenues, loss of valuable user data, and skewed metrics. But when monitored and managed carefully, some publishers believe it benefits their businesses by exposing their content to new audiences and providing valuable sampling opportunities that ultimately help to grow their paying subscriber bases.
Attitudes and approaches differ from one publisher to the next and are often informed by the nature of their content, audiences, experience, budgets, capabilities and business priorities.
Some major publishers that already employ strategies to combat account misuse say they’re mostly satisfied those measures are keeping password sharing to acceptable levels,, while some smaller publishers say they lack the technology to identify possible account-sharing activity, let alone the resources or the ability to attempt to combat or capitalize on it.
Meanwhile, publishers targeting professional and business audiences often pay particularly close attention to password-sharing – partly because their products are typically priced significantly higher than most consumer-facing publications, but also because they see particular value in the opportunity to upsell accounts they suspect are being used by multiple people.
This guide outlines the considerations publishers should make when deciding how important password sharing may or may not be to their businesses, and details strategies and tactics that can be employed to help limit password-sharing activity and recover lost subscribers and revenue.