Implementing first-click-free

How to comply with Google news requirement and not get ripped off.

[ashishp]

Hi,

Google News Help [google.com] says:

First click free:
We've worked with other subscription-based news services to arrange that the very first article view by a Google News user (identifiable by referrer) doesn't require subscription. While the first article can be seen without subscribing, all clicks on the article page are "trapped." This means that if users click anywhere else on that page, they will be prompted to sign up. This is our preferred solution since it benefits both you and our users.

My question is how can I implement this and be sure that the user sees only one page. I can set a session variable, but what if the user has turned off cookies or has a cookie blocker etc?

I dont want them to be able to view all my subscription content.

Any ideas?

[WesleyC]

You could do it by client IP, but that might get messy as many users will often share the same external IP. A better way might be to modify all the links on the page (probably via PHP output buffering) to point to a "please register" page if you detect a Google News account.