Bön Appetit Recipes Will Require Subscription

[BakerAunt]

I've been getting emails from Bon Appetit and Epicurious for some years now. Indeed, they tended to overwhelm my inbox, so I have considered unsubscribing. I did not because every now and then there would be a useful recipe. Today's email from the editor announced that from now on, after three recipes looks, one will be prompted to subscribe in order to access recipes from Bon Appetit, Epicurious, and Gourmet. The cost is $30 per year, or I think $4.99 per month with first month free.

Since so few of their recipes are of any use to me, and I often have to look at a recipe to know, I will soon have a tidier inbox, once I am past the three recipe limit, as I will be unsubscribing from their emails. I understand their need to make money, but the product is not so great. I will regret losing access to the recipes in their archives from back when they had recipes that I actually baked and cooked.

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[Mike Nolan]

The paid advertising model of websites seems to be giving way to the paid subscriber model.

I think everybody is so used to paying separate fees for streaming services these days that other online providers are eager to jump on the revenue bandwagon.

Former Tribune columnist John Kass has set up a site for his columns and is charging $50/year.

The Chicago Sun-Times newspaper was just bought by Chicago Public Media, the owner of the NPR station WBEZ. I read the Tribune, but I do occasionally look at Sun-Times stories, I'll be interested to see how this changes access to the Sun-Times.

[rottiedogs]

There is a way around the 3 recipe limit. I also get their emails. If you clear your cookies after viewing 3 recipes, the "clock" resets and you can keep viewing. I looked at over a dozen recipes last night doing just that. It is kind of a pain but it does work.

[Mike Nolan]

Using the 'private window' or 'stealth mode' in your browser might also help, and sometimes using a VPN to hide your IP address works, too.

It depends on what they're using to track you. Google is trying to replace cookies with something else, more secure, they say. So far people don't seem to be going along.

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