By Russell Perkins In South America, the metered paywall model best exemplified by the New York Times, is referred to as a “porous paywall.” And, no great surprise, the model appears just as effective in countries such as Brazil as in the United States.Folha, the largest circulation newspaper in Brazil, reports that since introduction of its porous paywall almost exactly one year ago today, visitors increased by 4%, pageviews grew by 15%, and full, paid digital subscriptions rose by an impressive 189%.

 Yes, the growth in digital subscriptions was likely off a small base, but these stats show the power of the metered model in that publishers “can have their cake and eat it too,” maintaining traffic, influence and relevance while simultaneously spurring an important new source of non-advertising revenue. The metered model adopted by Fulha allows access to 20 free articles per month, exclusive of the home page.Key factors in the success of this model at Folha include making sure that all print content is now available online (that hadn’t been the case before), and offering a digital subscription that included both website, tablet and smartphone access for a single, bundled price.We’re fans of the metered model because it allows readers to access the content of most interest to them, building engagement and habituation, and thus is most likely to ultimately lead to a paid subscription.