Medium’s Read Rate at 30 Seconds — Why Are So Many Clicking Away?

And how it affects earnings

Now that a ‘read’ on Medium is defined as a reader staying on a story for 30 seconds or more, at which point, we start to earn, I am horrified by the number of people who click away after 30 seconds — even on stories that are not click-bait and that deliver on the headlines.

For example, this story about a man who was suddenly blinded has a 63% read rate, which means 37% of the readers who clicked through, immediately thought, ‘Nah!’ and clicked away. There’s no click bait here, so I was left wondering, why would people click on the story if they weren’t interested?

Is it too long? I admit that 9 minute stories won’t suit everyone, but you can see the read time before you click.

Were my interviewees not beautiful enough? Seriously, if I put a busty blonde in the cover photo would that help? Maybe I should try it!

The story has received a decent amount of engagement from the people who did read. But because the read rate is low, the payout is low, despite it being a long read. One person said it was the best thing he’d ever read on Medium! So there’s that.

Effect of the paywall

I had wondered if the read rate is skewed by non-members meeting the paywall. Then I spotted that there are two read rates — the read rate overall, and the ‘member read rate’. The ‘member read rate’ is higher at 71%, indicating that the lower read rate overall may indeed include the ‘paywall effect’.

The other possibility is that there’s more to the ‘read rate’ than the 30-seconds bar. One Medium writer believes shorter stories are now being rewarded more than longer ones, due to the read rate changes. He’s quit writing on Medium because his longer stories no longer perform well under the new algorithm.

We’ve been told by Medium that for a ‘view’ to qualify as a ‘read’ the reader must stay on the page for 30 seconds or more. So, it shouldn’t make a difference whether the story is long or short. But I have noticed recently that some shorter stories are earning more than they once did. So perhaps there’s something in this writer’s theory. If that’s so, it might be bad news for writers who produce in-depth reads. But it might encourage wordy writers to get to the point and cut some dross.

My best performers tend to stand somewhere in the middle — mid-length reads of 3–5 minutes.

My overall conclusion

While I have some questions and reservations about the changes, overall, I do prefer the new 30 second rule. It’s clearer what a ‘read’ actually means, compared to a ‘view’.

My read rates have improved. They were around 50% for many stories before the change. Now, I’ve got some stories achieving an 84% read rate, like this one...

I suspect when ‘reads’ are more visible on the stats overview again, I’ll find I’ve got some 100% read rates, which will be nice.

How has the change affected your stories?

© Susie Kearley 2023. All Rights Reserved.