New York Times plans ad-free news website

/Courtesy of Twitter

By Lee Han-soo

The New York Times will launch an ad-free digital newspaper to bypass ad-block applications that have undercut the U.S. newspaper’s online revenue.

But readers will have to pay more than the standard subscription for access.

“The journalism they enjoy costs real money and needs to be paid for,” said Mark Thompson, co-CEO of the New York Times, in a speech at the Cannes Lions advertising festival, Monday. “The company is developing a premium option that lets users opt out of advertising if they want to do that.”

The announcement comes as many news outlets are losing big money because of ad-blockers.

According to Page Pair, a mobile advertisement research firm, one in five people uses ad-block applications to avoid online ads.

Another research firm, Ovum, said news providers around the world have lost about $24 billion (27.8 trillion won) in advertising revenue because of ad-blocker apps.