New York Times ( NYT ) CEO , David Thompson , suggests he is considering banning ad - blocking non - subscribers to encourage a greater influx of fee - paying readers for the newspaper 's quality content . The importance of targeting digital readers was highlighted by the 7 % decline in print revenue and 5 % increase in digital revenue during Q4 2015 . Now the NYT has decided to move away from traditional display ads in favour of more branded content , in an effort to improve engagement with its current 1.1 million paid online - only readers , who generated $ 193 m in revenue during 2015 , up 14 % from 2014 . It is also hoping to double its digital revenue from both advertising and subscriptions to $ 800 m by 2020 .
New York Times (NYT) CEO, Mark Thompson, suggests he is considering banning ad-blocking non-subscribers to encourage a greater influx of fee-paying readers for the newspaper's quality content. The importance of targeting digital readers was highlighted by the 7% decline in print revenue and 8% increase in digital revenue during Q4 2015. Now the NYT has decided to move away from traditional display ads in favour of more branded content, in an effort to improve engagement with its current 1.1 million paid digital-only subscribers, who generated $193m in revenue during 2015, up 14% from 2014. It is also hoping to double its digital revenue from both advertising and subscriptions to $800m by 2020.