Continuing the discussion from How To Do Everythjng?:
I posted the following NYTimes article link using the “give this article” link which I have access to as a subscriber. @Mean_Mr.Mustard said it was still paywalled for them. What’s up with that? I’ve shared bunches of Times articles using the “gift” link. Has no one been able to follow them (who isn’t a NYTimes subscriber)?? Is this true for other non-subscribers, or does the Times just have a particular axe to grind with M_MM? Surely not!
The entire concept of a “gift link” is to allow a non-subscriber to view the page.
Indeed, I’m a non-subscriber and can view your link.
ETA: the URL has “unlocked” and a bunch of codes.
The initial gift link worked for me, but clicking on any of the numerous sublink "How-To"s required a subscription.
That may be the explanation. With an article like this, the gift link will not work for the sublinks.
I know. I saw that, which made the lack of access more puzzling.
Ok, that makes sense.
I didn’t want to be using up all my gift links (you only get 10 per month) to no avail.
Ignorance fought, problem solved, question answered. I propose we all take the rest of the day off.
Seconded.
I think that’s so that you are so impressed by the free article, and so tantalized by the other headlines, you won’t be able to keep from subscribing.
That to me shows how gift links are meant to be a benefit to newspapers, and that’s why they work the way they do.
Ah, you mean they’d like to sell subscriptions. Sneaky bastards. Who’da thunk it? 
It’s insidious! 
I do not have a subscription, but I can read anything from the Times. I suspect it has to do with running NoScript in Chrome. I’ve never had paywall problems and the first link from that thread works fine for me, I can read all the sublinks also.
I wouldn’t have thought that links within gift links would work without a subscription, but if I did, then it would turn me off subscribing rather than entice me. I did have a free subscription for a day or two, but was tired of clicking on links that also were for paid subscribers only and did not tell you until you clicked on them. It’s one thing - a quite annoying thing, but one that has more difficult solutions - when stealth paywalled links show up in web searches. It’s quite another thing when they know who you are and are deliberately showing you links that do not contain the information they purport to contain. If they are that bad at information management, it makes me wonder if the information behind the wall is that great anyway.
FWIW, you’ve just encapsulated Google News as an aggregator. If you pay attention you might notice that a linked story is a paywalled source (assuming you maintain a mental list of paywall sources).
But it’s still aggravating.
I believe there’s also a time limit on the gift links, so if it’s an older post it might not be free anymore.