# Are "gift" links to NYTimes articles paywalled for non-subscribers? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [August 29, 2022, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gift-links-to-nytimes-articles-paywalled-for-non-subscribers/970538 "2022-08-29T16:45:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gift-links-to-nytimes-articles-paywalled-for-non-subscribers/970538/1 "2022-08-29T16:45:54Z")
Continuing the discussion from [How To Do Everythjng?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-do-everythjng/970453/4): 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! > [@How To Do Everything?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-do-everything/970453/4): > > I don’t know if the OP’s link is paywalled, but this one isn’t. > > [How to Do Everything - The New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/08/26/magazine/tips-for-everything.html?unlocked_article_code=zIN-g4Nex-VDrFkx6SZcZXfe3k4pAVw-L58FZgznpAjF-eY_-3bqWF5qH9tlNdcyyI0nBVV1WLX8tQwPQnXuUH70pEeTOoMzQ65iUH8ENSK98jHH3TwUubFOUSVsQkXVE_YDjEioFR4n2sBZyu-RVvKYxWxMsgwtjz-tGeDmRNQ9ofeV76ZNyjFNAz39lp7fYygUY70FAStLDJl2q0Qu_L9rUW1k-flYB7Xfw8xd6yokORO5FSzBEZz67L1e_RWDREYK326a5mmVFVlJBN7oYDtfp7YtR6ll4R1nEPXyo8B3lwqyeP1JNpb9F7NjRlYGZj2z9cXBO3-uhaKfCd5jlPXpBCSq8Hp_gP6v6ZeE&smid=share-url) > [@How To Do Everything?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-do-everything/970453/8): > > This link seems to be paywalled as well. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gift-links-to-nytimes-articles-paywalled-for-non-subscribers/970538/2 "2022-08-29T17:00:28Z")
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. > **[How to Do Everything](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/08/26/magazine/tips-for-everything.html?unlocked_article_code=zIN-g4Nex-VDrFkx6SZcZXfe3k4pAVw-L58FZgznpAjF-eY_-3bqWF5qH9tlNdcyyI0nBVV1WLX8tQwPQnXuUH70pEeTOoMzQ65iUH8ENSK98jHH3TwUubFOUSVsQkXVE_YDjEioFR4n2sBZyu-RVvKYxWxMsgwtjz-tGeDmRNQ9ofeV76ZNyjFNAz39lp7fYygUY70FAStLDJl2q0Qu_L9rUW1k-flYB7Xfw8xd6yokORO5FSzBEZz67L1e_RWDREYK326a5mmVFVlJBN7oYDtfp7YtR6ll4R1nEPXyo8B3lwqyeP1JNpb9F7NjRlYGZj2z9cXBO3-uhaKfCd5jlPXpBCSq8Hp_gP6v6ZeE&smid=share-url)** > > A guide to life, drawn from seven years of the magazine’s Tip column. ETA: the URL has “unlocked” and a bunch of codes. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gift-links-to-nytimes-articles-paywalled-for-non-subscribers/970538/3 "2022-08-29T17:06:20Z")
The initial gift link worked for me, but clicking on any of the numerous sublink "How-To"s required a subscription. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gift-links-to-nytimes-articles-paywalled-for-non-subscribers/970538/4 "2022-08-29T17:18:10Z")
That may be the explanation. With an article like this, the gift link will not work for the sublinks. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gift-links-to-nytimes-articles-paywalled-for-non-subscribers/970538/5 "2022-08-29T17:58:11Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > ETA: the URL has “unlocked” and a bunch of codes. I know. I saw that, which made the lack of access more puzzling. * * * * * * > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > That may be the explanation. With an article like this, the gift link will not work for the sublinks.- 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. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gift-links-to-nytimes-articles-paywalled-for-non-subscribers/970538/6 "2022-08-29T18:50:51Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I propose we all take the rest of the day off. Seconded. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gift-links-to-nytimes-articles-paywalled-for-non-subscribers/970538/7 "2022-08-30T01:59:18Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gift-links-to-nytimes-articles-paywalled-for-non-subscribers/970538/8 "2022-08-30T02:18:30Z")
Ah, you mean they’d like to sell subscriptions. Sneaky bastards. Who’da thunk it? 🤓 ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gift-links-to-nytimes-articles-paywalled-for-non-subscribers/970538/9 "2022-08-30T05:19:27Z")
It’s insidious! 👿 ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gift-links-to-nytimes-articles-paywalled-for-non-subscribers/970538/10 "2022-08-30T06:31:16Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gift-links-to-nytimes-articles-paywalled-for-non-subscribers/970538/11 "2022-08-30T14:39:25Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gift-links-to-nytimes-articles-paywalled-for-non-subscribers/970538/12 "2022-08-30T16:59:10Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > t’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 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. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2022, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gift-links-to-nytimes-articles-paywalled-for-non-subscribers/970538/13 "2022-09-01T23:28:58Z")
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.