By: Carl Sullivan
Updated at 10:50 a.m. Eastern Standard TimeKnight Ridder Digital rolled out user registration at KansasCity.com early Friday morning.
The launch is the first registration effort for a Knight Ridder Web site, according to Amy Dalton, a spokeswoman for the San Jose, Calif.-based company. KRD plans to introduce a similar registration model at Charlotte.com at the end of next week.
"We are treating these two markets as test cases for the concept of registration on our newspaper Web sites," Dalton said.
Readers are required to provide their name, e-mail address, home address, gender, and year of birth. Users must also answer these questions: 1. Do you subscribe to the
Star in print? 2. Would you like to receive information about new site features and promotions? 3. Are you interested in receiving offers from KansasCity.com partners?
The registration sign-up page offered this explanation to readers: "When you register on KansasCity.com you will have privileged access to our articles and services, free of charge. By learning a little about you, we are able to provide the kinds of information, offers and services that are of the most interest to you."
A contest is also featured to encourage registration. "New Members! Win groceries for a year from one of your favorite supermarkets, or 1 of 2 trips for two people to the Chiefs-Broncos game in Denver on Dec. 7," the site offers.
KansasCity.com is the online home of
The Kansas City (Mo.)
Star. Charlotte.com is
The Charlotte (N.C.)
Observer's Web site.
A number of newspaper Web sites have introduced user registration in the last year or so. Publishers are requiring readers to provide basic demographic data in exchange for free access to online content. Registration data is used to target advertising to consumers and to help publishers understand how their Web sites are used.
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