[roc]

Because you're still erecting a pay-wall, which carries all the same traffic problems as any other pay-wall.

And to the user who first sees the pay-wall, you're asking them to make a non-micro-transaction commitment. Maybe the page view only costs two cents, but they've got to create and charge some sort of account for, say, $10. So they never sees that "It's two cents!" pitch. Their eyes lock on that $10, they laugh/curse, and go get the content elsewhere.

Unless consumers are ready to spend all $10 that-visit (as at a GameWorks or similar) the buy-in on that sort of 'charged account' just doesn't happen.