Improving Consent or Pay Conversion: Newsquest’s Testing Advantage with Sourcepoint

Newsquest is the leading local news publisher in the UK, with a portfolio of more than 200 news and media brands. Reaching over 50 million users online each month and more than 4 million readers weekly in print, Newsquest’s content is consumed by a significant portion of the UK population.

Alongside its extensive local news network, Newsquest also owns a range of digital pure play and specialist media businesses, including s1jobs, Exchange & Mart, and Newsquest Specialist Media.

Newsquest is part of Gannett, the largest news publisher in the United States, which is publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

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“Newsquest has had a strong working relationship with Sourcepoint since 2018, working collaboratively to navigate evolving privacy legislation. Implementing Consent or Pay has been the latest step in that journey and was made possible through the dedicated support of the Sourcepoint team and the adaptable solutions provided by the Sourcepoint portal.”

– said Adam Walsh
Data & Insights Analyst, Newsquest

Consent or Pay Landscape

The user consent landscape has undergone significant changes following guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). In 2024, the ICO contacted the top 200 UK websites, a number that has since grown to the top 1,000, urging publishers to give equal prominence to both the ‘Accept’ and ‘Reject All’ options on first-layer consent banners. In response to concerns about the potential impact on advertising revenue, many UK publishers began exploring paywalls, with some going live in the summer.

The ICO recently introduced guidance on the “Consent or Pay” (CorP) model, focusing on balancing the need for businesses to monetise their content while respecting users’ privacy rights. The guidance emphasises that consent must be freely given, informed, and easily revocable without negative consequences for the user. Additionally, cookie banners must be clear and unambiguous, with no default non-essential tracking and an easy way to withdraw consent.

Newsquest’s approach to Consent or Pay

Newsquest has adopted a proactive approach to implementing a “Consent or Pay” model. Uniquely, the company began testing its solution over a year ago and without any communication from the ICO. Rather than waiting for regulatory pressure, Newsquest chose to invest time in carefully testing and refining various user journeys.

Now live across more than 200 sites, Newsquest’s rollout was completed ahead of any formal ICO engagement. Central to its approach is an original user flow: after a user selects “reject all” on the initial consent layer, they are presented with a bespoke “journalism message modal.” This interstitial screen educates users on the value of supporting quality, independent journalism and clearly outlines the two available paths — either by consenting to data use or choosing a paid, non-personalised ad experience.

Newsquest’s use of Sourcepoint’s portal capabilities

Newsquest leveraged Sourcepoint’s platform to streamline and optimise its consent and pay strategy across a wide network of digital properties.

Results of the Consent or Pay message

Newsquest has seen an encouraging nine percentage point increase in monetizable page views, driven by a combination of user consent and subscription purchases, with minimal impact on visitor bounce rates.

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