You found an article, it finally got interesting, and suddenly the page says “1 2 Next.” Your train of thought has reached a tollbooth. You came for the story, not a website obstacle course.
What the extra click can do for a publisher
If one story has two pages and you open both, the site records two pageviews rather than one. Depending on the ad setup, that second page may offer another opportunity to show an ad. From the publisher's dashboard, splitting can look appealing even when no new story was written.
But the reader sees something different: a moment to reconsider. Scrolling is easy; deciding whether the rest is worth a click is work. “Next” may as well say, “Would you like to leave now?”
Not every split is the same
Breaking one story in half is different from charging for journalism. A subscription wall asks readers to pay for content. Paginating a long archive helps people browse many separate articles. And an image-heavy or genuinely huge feature may benefit from sections.
Those designs should be judged on their own merits. The frustrating case is an ordinary article chopped up purely for another page load.
Two pageviews do not tell the whole story
Imagine two readers. One clicks from page one to page two and leaves. The other finishes a complete article and voluntarily opens a related piece. Both generated two pageviews, but their experiences were not the same.
Instead of celebrating a bigger counter, publishers can check whether people finish reading, explore another topic or come back later. Ad rules matter too: an ad cannot simply be refreshed automatically whenever someone wants another impression. The relevant advertising service's policies govern that choice.
Let the story finish
When a story is short enough to flow naturally, let it. At the end, recommend something genuinely related. A reader who wants to explore further can choose the next door for themselves.
If you're building a hallway of good stories, don't install a turnstile halfway down the first one.
References (2)
- Google Search Central, paywalled content: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/paywalled-content
- Google AdSense, ad placement and refresh: https://support.google.com/adsense/answer/1346295
